The Ministry of Labour on Monday reminded an estimated 380,000 Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand who hold temporary work permits – also known as pink cards – to apply for more permanent documents when registration opens online later this month.

In its letter, the ministry reminded workers who do not yet hold a passport, Overseas Cambodian Worker Card or travel documents, to apply for them online starting September 26, and to collect them at three locations in Thailand at a cost of about $18. Workers are also required to obtain a permit that grants them a two-year stay in the country.

“Only workers who hold pink cards and obtain their passports through Thailand’s labour [system] can request stay permits,” Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said in a message yesterday, adding that the roughly 200,000 workers who have applied for their passports could receive them from Cambodian officials in Bangkok, Chonburi and Pathum Thani.

However, Ya Navuth, executive director of CARAM, an NGO that assists migrants, said that the government should do better to prepare legal documents for Cambodian workers ahead of their departure. “It will be difficult for Cambodian labourers to seek legal documents when they are in another country . . . it will cost them money and time,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Cambodian migrant worker in South Korea, identified as Tum Chanthorn, was reportedly abused by his factory supervisor while at work in Anseong in Gyeonggi province. The Cambodian embassy in Seoul said in a Facebook post that the owner of the factory has been informed and legal action will be taken to seek justice for the worker.