Thailand extends work permits for migrants from Southeast Asian neighbors

By VNA February 6, 2025 | 05:00 pm PT

Tourists ride a hop-on hop-off cruise boat along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, March 2023. Photo by AFP

The Thai Cabinet has approved the extension of work permit renewals for migrant workers from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Thai Labor Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn announced on Feb. 5 that work permits for Lao and Vietnamese workers are extended for three months, until May 13, 2025, while Cambodian and Myanmar workers can stay in Thailand for an additional 6 months, until Aug. 13, 2025.

That will enable employers to submit the necessary documents to extend Lao and Vietnamese workers' stay and work in Thailand until Feb. 13, 2026, and to make extension for Cambodian and Myanmar ones until Feb. 13, 2027, with the option of a further two-year extension.

Currently, there are approximately 2.4 million migrant workers authorized to work under the Cabinet's resolution until Feb. 13, 2025, with around 1.2 million of them having their names already submitted by employers.

Somchai Morakotsriwan, Director-General of the Department of Employment, announced that the department has been actively promoting employers, businesses, and migrant workers to submit their lists of foreign worker requirements by Feb. 13, and urged them to complete all procedures within the given timeframe to avoid any issues or delays in work permit applications.