BANGKOK: The President of the Friends of Cambodian Workers Association, Chamroeun, visited and studied the living conditions and hardships faced by Cambodian workers and students living and working in Thailand for six months.
Through researching the living conditions of Cambodian workers in Thailand over the past six months, Chamroeun, the President of the Friends of Cambodian Workers Association, learned about their plight as many were cheated by brokers and crossed the border illegally, faced high fees before being able to work, and while in Thailand, had to stay without a passport or sufficient documents, and also had to pay additional fees to authorities to ensure that they could still work in Thailand.
Mr. Chamroeun said that many workers were deprived of access to their passports by factory agents and were not allowed to travel in Thailand from one area to another.
Some Cambodian workers also faced abuse from their Thai employers, did not receive their salaries, and when involved in accidents or deaths, did not receive proper support from the factories they worked at and could not properly access legal support.
At the same time, Mr. Chamroeun said that the applications for passports and travel documents is complicated for workers, as it costs a lot of money and takes a long time to process. Cambodian workers who have worked in Thailand since 2015, for example, still have not received their passports.
Seeing the difficulties Cambodian migrant workers face, Mr. Chamroeun said he has already written letters and reported the plight of Cambodian workers in Thailand to the Prime Minister of Cambodia.
He further appealed to Cambodians, especially those working and living in Thailand, to contact or provide information to the Friends of Cambodian Workers Association, headquartered in Bangkok, so that the association can potentially provide help.
He stated that the Friends of Cambodian Workers Association, registered by the Ministry of Interior on 1 November 2022, will try to solve the problems faced by workers according to jurisdiction. At the same time, the association will also report to the Ministry of Interior and the head of the Royal Government for acknowledgment.
