Source: Mekong Independent
After 15 years working in Thailand, Horn Seng Hong is preparing to return home — not because his visa expired, but because rising hostility toward Cambodian workers has made him feel unwelcome.
“I felt lonely lately living here,” Horn Seng Hong, 34, who worked in a fish canning factory in Thailand’s Rayong province up until this month. Though his visa won’t expire until 2027, he felt increased pressure from the Thai authorities’ uncertain policy regarding Cambodian workers.
“By the end of February, I decided to go back to my hometown as I had consistently experienced a sense of loneliness if I continued residing here,” he said, adding that the border conflict had rendered him an outsider within Thai society.
Some of his uneasiness comes from the number of Thai television shows and media sharing content that depicts Cambodia using derogatory terms, particularly taking aim at “the Khmer race,” which he felt himself to be in.
“I felt sad as I’m living here and they speak disdainfully, look down. They didn’t talk [like this] directly to me, but I watched the news and social media, and saw the comments saying, ‘beggar, poor country, why are you still here?’” he said. A lot of this news is blocked for IP addresses in Cambodia, he said, but while in Thailand he sees it frequently.
Thailand’s Labor Ministry announced last week that it would only consider renewing the work permits of about 100,000 Cambodian workers after vetting “security risks,” as the two countries maintain an uneasy ceasefire after two rounds of armed conflict in 2025.
Some Cambodian workers who stayed through the fighting last year say they still see the financial benefits of working in Thailand, but they feel hostilities between neighboring countries are becoming entrenched.
Horn Seng Hong said he knew about the announcement, but perceives it as the Thai authority’s attempt to deflect criticism regarding human rights violations against Cambodian workers.
Since the border conflict escalated, Cambodian workers fled their jobs in Thailand, after some say they endured verbal and physical abuse. Nearly 1 million workers returned between May and August last year, despite their concerns around job opportunities at home.
Loeng Sophon, a Thailand-based project officer for the Cambodian labor rights organization Central, said Cambodian workers had expressed concerns about the fate of their work permits.
Several factories have informed Cambodian workers whose working permits will expire at the end of March that they will be expected to leave if there is no prospect of renewal of their work permits.
“The situation remains uncertain, and the only course of action is to await the decision of the new cabinet regarding the renewal of work permits for Cambodian workers,” he said.
Somphros, a Cambodian worker in Thailand who only gave her first name, said she was not aware of the work permit issue. Her working visa is valid until 2027. She migrated to Thailand in 2017, working in the informal sector selling meat skewers, and said she would stay as long as permitted.
“My visa is still valid for a year, and it’ll expire in 2027. Since I can stay here longer, I’ll stay. But if they don’t renew it, the only option is to go back.”
Somphros said finding employment in Cambodia would likely be challenging for recently returned Cambodian workers. They wouldn’t know which jobs to start with.
New barriers to work
Horn Seng Hong mentioned in the past that when his visa was about to expire, he simply visited the provincial migration office in Rayong.
Central’s Loeng Sophon said Thai authorities were renewing visas for workers from Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar while canceling visas for Cambodian workers.
“We can also refer to this as discrimination. However, they do not explicitly state direct discrimination; instead, they attempt to address national security concerns and emphasize the need for a thorough review,” he said. “It seems they want all Cambodian workers to return home phase by phase.”
Loeng Sophon noticed that some factory owners are urging the government to continue permitting employment of Cambodian workers in Thailand, but the Labor Ministry has left that decision to the Cabinet. Anutin Charnvirakul, the country’s newly re-elected prime minister, campaigned on nationalistic sentiment and promised to “protect our land.”
Job concerns
Loeng Sophon observed that even after the mass migration of mid-2025, another round of Cambodian workers left Thailand during the country’s national elections earlier this month. He believed this was in anticipation of the new government implementing restrictions on Cambodians in Thailand.
He added that a large number of the Cambodian workers were reluctant to return, as they had been residing and working in Thailand for several years. Many of the workers who had stayed through conflicts in 2025 decided to do so because they had acquired valuable skills in their respective fields and were entitled to bonuses and high salaries, Loeng Sophon said.
The Cambodian Ministry of Labor has told Kiripost that Cambodia currently has a job market demand for tens of thousands of workers. However, Central’s Cambodia-based researchers found that the number of returnees far outnumbered the jobs available, and those positions advertised frequently did not align with the skills or needs of workers.
Originally from Cambodia’s Kampong Thom province, Horn Seng Hong decided to work in Thailand due to dire family circumstances. Migration was the sole means of earning a substantial income and providing financial support for the family. He could potentially earn between $500 and $600 per month, contingent upon his experience and overtime at the fish can factory in Rayong province.
He said he didn’t believe he would be able to earn that same salary understands the job situation in Cambodia, but he could run a small grocery store in his village from his savings.
He observed that individuals burdened with debt are in a significantly more challenging predicament compared to his circumstances.
“Yes, I’m concerned [about finding a job], but it’s my home country. Whether it has [jobs] or not, my family is here,” he said. “Thailand has jobs but I’m away from them.”
If he can’t earn enough in Cambodia, Horn Seng Hong said he would try to relocate to South Korea for job opportunities. He wouldn’t consider Thailand again, he said, because he believed the conflict would continue for years to come.