Thailand:
Cambodian Workers in the Crosshairs

Sep 1, 2025

This article is translated from the August 29, issue #2978 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the revolutionary workers group of that name active in France.

Military fighting on the border between Thailand and Cambodia broke out in late July. Since then, Cambodian immigrants working in Thailand have faced a rise in nationalism and xenophobia.

Before the clashes they numbered officially 500,000. In reality around a million Cambodian workers try to earn a living in Thailand in textile factories, construction, and agriculture, mostly in the border regions. The minimum wage amounts to barely $4,200 a year. But wages are even lower and unemployment even higher inside Cambodia.

In less than two weeks, several hundred thousand workers returned to Cambodia, driven by rising racism and attacks by Thai extremist groups. A manhunt climate has taken hold. Groups organize patrols in markets and attack people speaking Khmer, the language most Cambodians speak. Workers who stayed to keep their jobs now hide. They go out as little as possible and avoid speaking Khmer in public.

These workers are essential in many sectors. So the Thai government is now trying to hold on to some of them and limit the impact on employers, mostly by relaxing the policy requiring residence permits. But in fact, rivalry between the leaders of the two countries opened the gate to this outpouring of xenophobia.

Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet repeat many nationalist lines. They promise to welcome and support Cambodians who return from Thailand. But what do they have to offer them?

A ceasefire was signed August 7. It might have stopped the fighting between the two countries for the time being. But workers have not stopped having to pay the price for the rivalries and nationalism fueled by their leaders.