News Today: Thailand to hire 10,000 workers from Sri Lanka amid labour shortages

Thailand has announced a major overseas employment opportunity, as its Cabinet has officially approved the hiring of 10,000 workers from Sri Lanka to address critical labour shortages. The move comes after hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers left Thailand due to the deadly border conflict between the two countries.

A Thai senior official confirmed that Sri Lankan workers would play a vital role in filling urgent manpower needs across agriculture, construction, and manufacturing. Thailand currently relies on more than three million registered foreign labourers, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the exodus of Cambodian workers has left a significant gap in the workforce.

Labour Minister Pongkawin Jungrungruangkit revealed that over 30,000 Sri Lankans have already registered, with 10,000 set to be deployed in the first stage. In addition to Sri Lanka, workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines will also be allowed to apply for positions in Thailand.

The urgency stems from a long-standing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, which escalated in July into the worst fighting in decades. The conflict left at least 43 people dead and displaced over 300,000 on both sides. Official data showed that before the violence, more than 520,000 Cambodians were employed in Thailand, accounting for around 12% of the country’s foreign workforce. Since the clashes, roughly 400,000 Cambodian workers have returned home, creating a massive labour vacuum.

For Sri Lanka, this agreement provides new job opportunities for thousands of citizens while also strengthening labour and economic ties with Thailand. The deployment of workers is expected to not only ease Thailand’s manpower crisis but also bring much-needed foreign remittances to Sri Lanka’s economy.

The move signals a significant win-win scenario for both nations: Thailand secures its essential workforce, while Sri Lankans gain access to better-paying overseas employment.