Nearly eight in 10 of Thailand's 4.2 million foreign workers are from Myanmar, highlighting how heavily the Thai economy relies on migrant labour from neighbouring countries.
The latest statistics from the Labour Ministry's Department of Employment put the number of active work permits at 4,225,503 as of September.
Myanmar nationals held 3.33 million of them, followed by Laotians with 364,785, Cambodians with 279,854 and Vietnamese with 11,246.
The figures show that Thailand fills most of its labour shortages through ad hoc approvals rather than formal recruitment.
About 3.34 million workers, or 79%, are in the country under a legal provision that allows the Cabinet to authorise migrants from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to stay and work to ease labour shortages.
Only about 637,000, or 15%, entered through government-to-government recruitment agreements.
The Cabinet-approved workers fall into six groups covered by resolutions passed between July 2025 and July 2026, each with its own renewal deadline.
The largest group, numbering 1.24 million, consists of workers previously registered with the Department of Employment.
Another 732,231 were approved as new applicants under a November 11, 2025, resolution, while permits held by 685,634 workers, which were due to expire on March 31, were extended under a December 2, 2025, decision.
Cambodians appear in only one of the six groups, comprising 181,131 previously registered workers.
None are listed among the new applicants or those whose permits have been renewed under resolutions issued since mid-2025.
Most foreign workers are employed in manual jobs. About nine in 10 work permit holders are classified as labourers, followed by domestic workers and construction workers.
Manufacturing employs the largest number of foreign workers, at nearly 1.2 million, followed by construction with about 817,000, wholesale and retail trade with about 620,000, and agriculture, forestry and fishing with about 488,000.
Skilled professionals account for only a small proportion. About 81,600 foreigners hold general work permits, with primary school teachers forming the largest single group at 5,713.
Another 79,518 work under investment promotion and related laws, mostly as managers and engineering technicians.
Half of all work permit holders are employed in Bangkok and five surrounding provinces.
Samut Sakhon, a seafood processing hub southwest of the capital, has 358,595 registered foreign workers, the highest number of any province outside Bangkok.
Chonburi, home to the industrial eastern seaboard and the resort city of Pattaya, has 316,936, while Samut Prakan has 313,448.
Border provinces also attract cross-border workers. In Nong Khai, across the Mekong River from Vientiane, almost all of the 82,420 foreign workers were recruited through formal agreements.
In Tak, which borders Myanmar, 72,042 foreigners hold work permits, including 2,516 who cross the border daily or seasonally for work.
The statistics also list 5,110 people who fled fighting in Myanmar and have been allowed to stay and work temporarily, most of them as labourers.
Another 74,072 work permits were issued to members of ethnic minorities and stateless people who have long lived in Thailand without citizenship.
The Department of Employment issued 26,855 new work permits in September. The figures were extracted from the department's electronic work permit system on October 1.
Thai PBS World
