ASEAN economic experts say Cambodian workers returning home will impact the Thai economy by as much as 32 billion baht per month

ASEAN economic experts say Cambodian workers returning home will impact the Thai economy by as much as 32 billion baht per month

Assoc. Prof. Dr. At Pisanwanich, an independent scholar and expert on international and ASEAN economics, assessed the impact of Cambodian workers “returning to their home countries” on the Thai economy. He stated that the number of official and informal Cambodian workers working in Thailand in 2024 was 1.25 million, working in three key manufacturing sectors: 300,000 in construction, 325,000 in agriculture, and the remaining 625,000 in the service sector. Cambodian workers in Thailand account for 20.8% of the Thai workforce and 15.7% of the CLMV workforce. Cambodian workers in Thailand contribute 5.2% of Thailand’s GDP (based on a GDP of 18 trillion baht), valued at 935,909 million baht. This is broken down into 190,909 million baht in construction, 45 billion baht in agriculture, and 700 billion baht in other service sectors.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. At further assessed that as of August 13, 2025, there were no official figures on how many Cambodian workers had returned. However, it is estimated that approximately 300,000-500,000 Cambodian workers had already returned. The return of Cambodian workers will impact Thailand’s GDP by 5.3% to 8.8%, with other service sectors being the most affected, followed by construction and agriculture, respectively. The monthly impact ranges from 19,498 to 32,496 million baht. It can be seen that the Thai manufacturing sector and economy heavily rely on Cambodian workers, representing 5.2% of the country’s GDP. The return of these workers will inevitably impact the Thai economy.