Thailand's Refugee Work Program Brings Wages and New Risks as Aid Shrinks

6,800 workers take a first step beyond the camps

Thailand says 6,800 refugees from Myanmar entered its workforce during the first year of a program that began on 1 October 2025, opening jobs outside nine border camps after decades of restrictions. For workers such as Ray Boe, 31, the change means earning 400 baht a day on a Bangkok construction site. For others, it has brought unexpected deductions, work different from what was promised and costly journeys back to camp.

The government adopted the resolution on 26 August 2025, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR. It initially allowed registered refugees of working age to take legal employment for up to one year. Two pressures drove the decision: cuts to foreign aid were reducing food and medical support, while departures of Cambodian migrant workers left Thai employers seeking replacements.

Ray Boe pours concrete and erects scaffolding for an apartment building planned to have 12 floors in central Bangkok. Before finding work, he and his parents borrowed from neighbours and reduced their meals as assistance disappeared. He hopes his wages will soon pay for food and his parents' medical care.

Ray Boe, a refugee construction worker supporting his parents, described what earning a wage means to his household:

Compared to how we were living in the camp before, it will be a big difference, having my own income and supporting my family on my own, not having to wait for other people to support us day to day.

Thailand's opening of legal employment created a route from aid dependence to paid work. The first year shows how much that route depends on the job offered, the costs charged and whether workers can get help when arrangements break down.

What changed, and who can apply?

UNHCR's account of the policy, published on 13 February 2026, says the resolution covers registered refugees of working age living in the nine camps. Employment is allowed in 43 provinces, across most sectors, excluding occupations reserved by law for Thai citizens.

The camps lie in Mae Hong Son, Tak, Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi provinces. Some residents arrived in the 1980s; others have spent almost their entire lives there. Thanakorn Khansai, deputy district chief and head of administrative affairs in Tha Song Yang District, said travel outside previously required limited grounds such as medical treatment or legal appointments.

The main dates trace a rapid policy change after decades of restrictions:

• 26 August 2025: The Thai government adopted the resolution allowing eligible camp residents to work outside.
• 1 October 2025: The employment program took effect, with permits lasting up to one year.
• November 2025: Several workers described in accounts of the program left their camps for construction, factory and agricultural jobs.
• 13 February 2026: UNHCR published an account of early participants, including a couple working in central Thailand.
• September 2026: Accounts of the first year described both sustained employment and workers returning to camp after difficult placements.

The initial authorization was temporary. Arrangements beyond the first year remain unspecified. Employers and families therefore face a practical concern alongside wages and working conditions: how long workers can plan to keep earning outside the camps.

How large is the opportunity?

Department of Employment Director General Pichit Thongphan said at the launch that 42,601 residents aged 18 to 59 were of working age, 12,000 had expressed willingness to work and employers were seeking 6,152 workers. Construction had the greatest demand, followed by electronics manufacturing or sales.

The government's first year figure of 6,800 workers is equivalent to about 16 percent of that initial pool of 42,601 people. Registration, recruitment and actually starting a job are separate stages, each involving decisions and paperwork.

Population estimates vary more widely: UNHCR described nearly 80,000 people affected by the funding crisis, while broader accounts put the population of the nine camps above 100,000. Eligibility depends on registration and individual circumstances, rather than the total number living along the border.

Why aid cuts made earning urgent

Mae La, the largest camp, illustrates the pressure on families. More than 80 percent of its residents no longer receive food assistance, according to the Border Consortium, which coordinates aid along the border. Its executive director, Leon de Riedmatten, said the loss of United States support left the organization able to assist only the most vulnerable.

The International Rescue Committee also closed its camp health facilities after funding cuts. Families seeking work were therefore responding to lost meals and medical services as well as the chance of a better income. People unable to work, including some older residents and people with disabilities, still need humanitarian assistance.

Thailand was confronting a labour shortage at the same time. Fighting over disputed territory along the Cambodian border prompted hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers to return home. The Center for Global Development's analysis of work rights describes more than 780,000 departures, leaving gaps in agriculture, manufacturing and construction.

The government opened employment in 18 central provinces, 17 northern provinces and eight eastern provinces. Bangkok is included. The program connects people needing income with employers needing labour, but the location and nature of those jobs can require a major adjustment for residents accustomed to camp life.

From a job offer to a work permit

Employers have a central role in recruitment. With government permission, companies can visit camps, select interested workers and submit their names, workplaces and proposed employment periods to the relevant provincial employment office.

The procedure announced at the launch has six stages: selecting workers, notifying employment authorities, obtaining permission to leave camp, reporting at the destination, completing health checks and insurance, and applying for work permits. Workers must report to the designated authority within 48 hours of arrival. Health insurance must cover at least the period requested for employment.

The announced initial application fee was 100 baht. Subsequent applications were to carry a permit fee of 900 baht a year plus a 100 baht application fee. Medical examinations, transport and accommodation can add further costs.

Saw Pwe Say, secretary of the Karen Refugee Committee, said applicants need the ministry's identification number containing 13 digits. Eligible refugees have also been receiving Myanmar Displaced Persons cards, which provide access to services such as banking and telecommunications. Banking matters because many workers leave dependants behind and need a reliable way to send money home.

Kriwut Tantikanedi, senior labour specialist at the Tak Provincial Department of Employment, said meetings between employers and refugees allow questions about salaries, housing and health care before recruitment. He also described work with district authorities, ministries, aid organizations and UNHCR on a handbook explaining Thai laws, worker rights and daily life outside the camps.

What a successful placement can provide

Ja Mar, 33, and No Zan, 47, show the gains a supported placement can bring. UNHCR followed the couple at a construction site in central Thailand, where they were among about 60 refugee employees working alongside nearly 2,000 other workers.

Ja Mar leads a team dismantling scaffolding, while No Zan heads a cleaning team. Each earns 375 baht a day. Before the program, their combined irregular earnings were sometimes only 150 baht a day. Their current combined daily wage of 750 baht is five times that earlier amount, with work generally available six days a week.

The company provides accommodation, while the couple pay for food. Ja Mar said managers explained workplace and dormitory rules, and Thai colleagues helped them learn their tasks. UNHCR says they have the same labour rights as other lawful workers, including wages, health coverage and workplace protections.

Ja Mar, a construction team leader and father working far from his children, described his reason for applying:

The motivation to work is that we have a large family. It was hard to make ends meet in the camp. Our goal is to support our family's livelihood and cover our children's education.

Five of their children remain more than 600 kilometres away in Mae La. Their daughter Ha Se Nar, 19, cares for younger siblings and her own son. Better earnings have made food and school supplies easier to afford, while shifting much of the household's daily care to her.

When promised work becomes something else

Akwah, a father of two, described a very different placement. In November 2025, he left camp with 20 other refugees for what they understood would be sugarcane harvesting at 250 baht a day. On arrival, he said, they were assigned to cut eucalyptus trees for 200 baht a day.

The offered wage had fallen by 50 baht, or 20 percent, while the work was harder and more dangerous, he said. The group slept outdoors without electricity and relied on a nearby pond for water. They left after three months.

Akwah, explaining how the group challenged the change of work, recalled the employer's response:

We spoke to the boss, but the boss did not care. He said, 'Just do the work because you are already here.' But we said we could not do it.

Siwawong Sooktawee, Thailand project coordinator for the International Detention Coalition, and K'nyaw Paw, general secretary of the Karen Women's Organization, say some recruits receive no employment contract. Others encounter different workloads, conditions or pay from those described before departure. Both organizations support legal employment but want stronger safeguards around recruitment.

The foreign affairs, labour and interior ministries did not respond to requests for comment on these allegations. UNHCR has also acknowledged cases of poor treatment by employers that ended with refugees returning to camp.

Deductions can consume money meant for families

Saw Htoo, 40, who used a pseudonym, returned to Mae La after just over three months at a factory in Samut Prakan. He earned 370 baht a day, but said monthly deductions of 4,500 to 5,000 baht for rent, electricity and water left little to send home.

Those deductions equalled roughly 12 to 14 days of his stated daily wage. Cutting, bending and welding steel were unfamiliar tasks, and he said mistakes could lead to suspension. He eventually shared a bus back to camp with 23 other workers, each paying 1,500 baht.

Siwawong and K'nyaw Paw say some employers also recover medical examination, permit and transport expenses through wage deductions. Refugees can therefore begin employment owing money, sometimes without knowing the charges beforehand. Families may then borrow again to pay for a worker's return.

Mu Dah Hsit left her job after falling ill. She said her employer refused to cover the health insurance the program was supposed to guarantee. With a sick father and siblings depending on her, she still wanted another placement.

Mu Dah Hsit, a refugee worker caring for family members, explained the pressure to try again:

I had a bad experience, but I still want to go again, because food in the camp is a problem.

Contracts, training and family separation shape the next steps

Siwawong and K'nyaw Paw want detailed contracts translated where necessary into Burmese, Karen or Karenni, a clear process for filing and resolving complaints, and screening of brokers recruiting inside camps. Workers receive cards listing telephone numbers for help, but advocates say they also need an accessible route to a decision when disputes arise.

Training is another gap. The Foreign Affairs Ministry says vocational preparation inside the camps has improved. Saw Htoo's experience points to a need for instruction matched to actual vacancies: camp courses in baking or Thai language offer limited preparation for unfamiliar steelwork.

De Riedmatten says transport costs have reduced participation from smaller, more remote camps. He wants a wider range of jobs, including hospitality, and simpler hiring procedures for smaller employers. UNHCR is working with the World Bank to measure the economic effects of bringing refugees into the workforce.

Families cannot accompany workers under the initiative. Ko Chit, 29, earns 365 baht a day packing chicken in a room kept at minus 18 degrees Celsius at a poultry plant in Lopburi. His wife and their children, aged five and three, remain in Mae La. Like Ja Mar and No Zan, he has gained an income at the cost of living apart from his family.

The first year has made paid employment possible for thousands of people once confined to camps. Making it dependable now rests on concrete arrangements: understandable contracts, suitable preparation, disclosed costs, functioning health coverage and help when a placement goes wrong. Continued aid is still necessary for residents who cannot earn a wage.

Key Points

• Thailand says 6,800 Myanmar refugees entered its workforce in the program's first year.
• The policy took effect on 1 October 2025 and permits eligible registered camp residents to work in 43 provinces.
• Workers describe gains in food security, education spending and independence, alongside long family separations.
• Complaints include changed job assignments, missing contracts, unexpected deductions and failures in health coverage.
• Advocates seek translated contracts, better job preparation, screened recruiters and a clear complaints process.
• Residents unable to work still depend on humanitarian assistance as food and medical support shrink.