The Cambodian embassy in Thailand has denied online rumours that they are raising money to help Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand who are facing hardship due the pandemic.

On July 23, a Facebook user with the account name Pou Chhiv posted a message saying that hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand were facing hardship and suffering due to the third wave of Covid-19 transmission there. He called on Cambodians to donate 2,000 riel ($0.50 cents) each to help them.

Pou Chhiv gave out two bank account numbers in his post, claiming that that the bank accounts belonged to the Cambodian embassy in Thailand.

However, on July 24 the embassy issued a letter denying the contents of the Facebook post. It said the user Pou Chhiv was not associated with them and that they are not collecting funds for anyone.

The embassy warned the public not to get cheated by transferring money to the bank account.

“The embassy asked the Facebook user with the name Pou Chhiv to delete the content from his page and transfer any money he’s received back to the senders and to stop these activities which mislead the public,” the embassy wrote.

Loeng Sophon, a Thailand-based project officer at labour rights group Central, told The Post on July 26 that Cambodian migrant workers had experienced great hardship due to the pandemic and that some community members had called for funds to help them.

But he said in the above case, the Facebook user was impersonating a Cambodian embassy official to mobilise the funds so he was not sure what his real intentions were.

He said that currently a large number of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand were suffering because they had no jobs or money and the Thai government has banned them from leaving their worksites.

“Migrant workers have contacted me often because they are suffering hardship. No matter whether they live in Bangkok or in the provinces, they all have the same problems,” Sophon said.