BANGKOK -- The dramatic departure of nearly 190,000 Cambodian migrant workers from Thailand threatens to hit labor-intensive industries, damaging the Thai economy just as it teeters on the verge of recession.
Panicked laborers -- who help keep major Thai businesses afloat but often lack official work permits -- have fled in droves, fearing a crackdown by the new military junta after it warned that illegal migrants face arrest and deportation.
Despite officials from both countries denying a clampdown is under way, rumors of violent anti-immigration raids have spread across Thailand, where businesses already report feeling the pinch of a shrinking workforce.
He suspects the project has stalled as most of the workers on-site were Cambodians, nearly all of whom have fled.
"I don't know whether the Thai military will regret the actions that led to Cambodians fleeing," he said. "But employers will lose out."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014
