As clashes intensify along the Thai-Cambodian border, the impact is being felt far from the front lines, leaving more than 500,000 Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand trapped in a state of limbo.
Unable to return home safely, the workers are uncertain whether they can continue working in Thailand and anxious about what comes next.
They came chasing ordinary dreams: a steady wage, school fees paid on time, money sent back home. Now, as artillery thuds echo along the Thai–Cambodian border, those dreams hang in the balance.
Many, like Sai, say they are living in hiding. Life has shrunk to the walls of their home.
She lives in Thailand with her husband and their 10-year-old daughter. Before the conflict reignited, she had a regular salary working as a cook. Now, there is nothing. She barely sleeps. She doesn't leave her house for fear of arrest. She has learned to stay invisible.
"We never go out. We're afraid and scared about everything outside. There is nothing now," said Sai.
Thailand's labor-intensive economy relies heavily on hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers, who toil on fishing piers, construction sites, and plantations. But in the current climate, they face not only economic uncertainty but also a growing atmosphere of fear and suspicion.
"When they announced for Thais to evacuate, they all had shelters to go to. But Cambodians don't have anywhere to go. They will listen to the explosions every day and night, and they don't know what to do with their lives. They are in danger. Their lives are at risk," said Bua, a volunteer for the Cambodian Migrant Workers' Network, an organization dedicated to protecting Cambodian migrant workers' rights.
As border tensions continue to escalate, checkpoints have multiplied, border crossings are shuttered, and rumors now spread faster than facts, fanning suspicion and hostility toward an already vulnerable community.
The situation is mirrored just across the border in Poipet, a Cambodian city known for its casinos and scam operations. Thai authorities estimate that between 5,000 and 6,000 Thai nationals remain stranded there, unable to cross back into Thailand due to the closed checkpoint.
Like their Cambodian counterparts in Thailand, they too are suspended in uncertainty.
"We want peace like before, not like this. Before, Thais and Cambodians lived together and got along well. But now, it's not the same as before," said Sai.
The Cambodia-Thailand border conflict reignited on Dec. 7, with both sides accusing the other of initiating the attack.
Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand trapped in limbo as border tensions escalate
