Since the outbreak of severe armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand on June 9, 2025, more than 800,000 Cambodian migrant workers have returned home from Thailand. According to statistics from the Cambodian Ministry of Labor, as of August 6, a total of 800,816 Cambodian citizens have returned to the country through land ports within two months.
On August 6 alone, 135,977 workers returned, setting a record for the highest number of entries in a single day since the conflict began. Most returning workers chose to enter through the relatively safe Dong International Border Port in Kamlian County, Madawang Province, which is far from the core conflict areas of Bavaria Province and Audom Chis Province.
The Deputy Governor of Madawang Province, Xian Wenlie, revealed that after the peak on August 6, there were also peaks of more than 119,000 people on July 27 and more than 105,000 people on August 5. To ensure the safety of returning workers, the Governor of Madawang Province, Song Lu, led a working group to coordinate port operations for several days and arranged hundreds of buses to transport workers home for free.
According to reports from the Thai government, there are about 1 million to 1.2 million Cambodian workers in Thailand, with about 500,000 holding legal work permits. This massive return of workers is expected to have a significant impact on some industries in Thailand that rely on Cambodian labor.
