PATTAYA, Thailand — Pattaya’s booming tourism and construction industries are reeling from a severe labor shortage as waves of migrant workers flee amid rising fears and pressures back home. The city’s vital sectors, heavily reliant on migrant labor, now face major disruptions as many workers return to their home countries amid ongoing uncertainties.
Despite a recent ceasefire agreed upon at the Greater Border Committee talks in Malaysia, uncertainty and rumors continue to spread among Cambodian workers living in Pattaya. Many have been pressured to return by threats that their homes, land, and passports back in Cambodia will be seized if they stay. Others remain in Pattaya, weighed down by debt and the urgent need to keep working to repay loans.
At a busy construction site in East Pattaya’s Pong Subdistrict, Banglamung District, local contractor Chitiphat Chanthong, a former Navy footballer, reports a drastic reduction in his workforce. “Before the border tensions, we had a solid crew of Cambodian workers. But after the clashes, many resigned and went home, leaving only a handful—around seven or eight—still working here,” he said. “They told us they fear losing everything back in Cambodia, including consular support here.”
Mr. Dam, a Cambodian worker aged 40, shared his dilemma: “My family and village elders warned me to come back or lose my land and registration. But I stayed because I have a bank loan to build a house and no job waiting back home. I need to keep working here to pay off my debt.”
The ripple effect is felt strongly in Pattaya’s tourism industry as well. Sitthikorn Pomthong, owner of a popular speedboat tour business, said over 80 percent of his employees are Cambodian. “Since the conflict escalated, more than half of them have returned home, leaving us short-staffed and struggling to maintain service quality. Many told me they were pressured by their families and village chiefs to come back immediately,” he said.
With labor shortages threatening to stall construction projects and disrupt tourism services, Pattaya’s economy now faces the challenge of navigating these uncertain times—complicated further by border restrictions imposed by Cambodian leaders who limit their citizens’ ability to cross into Thailand. No one knows if or when the conflict might reignite, making the situation even more precarious. And worst of all, most Thais are unwilling to take on these jobs, deepening the labor crisis.
