Migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, who want to return to their home countries to celebrate Songkran between April 1^st and May 15^th, will be exempted from paying re-entry fees, Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said yesterday.

The decision to exempt migrant workers from those countries was approved by the policy committee on the management of alien workers.

He said that the exemption extends to dependents of migrant workers who hold passports or travel documents, known as the Non L-A visa, which allow them to stay in Thailand temporarily and their remaining permitted stay must not end before May 15^th.

The labour minister explained that, in practice, these migrant workers and their dependents do not need to apply for re-entry permits.

For those who want to return to Thailand after May 15^th, or who don’t yet know when they will return to Thailand, Phiphat said that they can apply for re-entry permits as normal.

According to information from the Employment Department in 2023, there were about 2.7 million documented migrant workers in Thailand. There are no figures for the number of undocumented workers, but it was estimated at that time that there may be as many as documented workers.