AS Thailand closed construction workers' camps in Bangkok and other provinces to curb the spread of Covid-19, many Cambodian workers there are now streaming back to the country.
The 30 days lockdown on the camps have triggered an exodus of the workers and they are arriving at the Cambodian border by truckloads.
Cambodia's Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training spokesman Heng Sour told The Phnom Penh Post that Cambodian authorities were working with the Thai side to solve the problem.
Loeng Sophon, a Thailand-based project officer with the labour rights group Central, told The Post that Cambodian construction workers were worried about their situation and many had returned home.
He said that according to information received from Cambodia-Thailand border officials on Sunday, hundreds of workers crossed from Thailand via the O'Smach, O'Bei Choan and Boeng Trakuon border checkpoints and other smaller border crossings in Thailand's Surin province.
"They were worried because the period of this closure is one month and they saw their friends at construction sites get infected and quarantined. Those who did not get infected, flocked to Cambodia on Sunday," he added.
"They are also worried because if they are infected, they do not know where to go for treatment and many Thai hospitals are full of Covid patients. When some migrant workers fall ill, they do not get medical attention," he said.
The Khmer Times reports an immigration official saying that the number of Cambodians returning home has risen sharply and that a large number of them were sacked by their employers.
The workers have been tested for Covid-19 and sent to quarantine facilities.
Battambang Provincial Administration spokesman Soeum Bunrith told The Post that they have set up more quarantine centres and Covid-19 treatment facilities.
"The Thai side said that migrant workers have rushed to Cambodia, but they have not yet arrived at our border. Let us wait and see for the next two to three days."
It was reported that Thai authorities have closed about 600 construction worker camps in the Greater Bangkok area and other provinces.
Troops and police have been stationed at the camps to ensure workers do not leave their camps as authorities fear they could spread the virus to other areas.
There are about 80,000 workers, comprising mostly migrant workers, in the camps.
Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reports that authorities have set up six checkpoints on major roads leading out of Bangkok, to prevent workers from leaving the capital for their home provinces.
Bangkok Metropolitan Authority permanent secretary Silapasuay Raweesangsoon said their officers together with the military and police would be manning the checkpoints.
Silapasuay said the BMA will also coordinate with owners of construction projects to cease construction, seal off workers' camps and ban the movement of workers.
The city's department of health will also support the Ministry of Labour in active case-finding at workers' camps and at construction sites.