Thailand has no policy to push foreign workers back to their own countries, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Sunday amid continued border tensions with Cambodia.
The prime minister said in social media posts that the government will not deport alien labourers working in the country and leave the decision to return home to them.
"The Thai government has no policy to repatriate alien workers from any country from the kingdom," she said on her Facebook and X accounts.
"But if any country takes measures to call back workers with jobs having been created for them, they have the right and freedom to decide under the responsibility of their country," she added.
Ms Paetongtarn did not mention neighbouring Cambodia by name in the message. Her post followed a recent call by the Cambodian government for workers to come back to Cambodia to counter a partial border closure by Thai security authorities.
Former prime minister Hun Sen said last week that industries in Cambodia still need workers and they could easily absorb a possible influx of Cambodian workers from Thailand.
Hun Sen, regarded as the most influential figure in Cambodia, expected prolonged tensions after Cambodia officially sought the International Court of Justice to rule on four locations at the Thai-Cambodian border, according to the Khmer Times.
Cambodia has 400 buses on standby to transport Cambodian workers from the border with Thailand in case the situation escalates.
"As long as the government orders to transport citizens and workers who need to leave the Thai border to their homeland, we will immediately follow the order," the Khmer Times on Saturday quoted Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng as saying.
Hun Sen, who is the senate president, on Saturday commended his son and Prime Minister Hun Manet on well-prepared measures to take workers wanting to come back to Cambodia, while the Cambodian Labour Ministry said tens of thousands of job opportunities were available for the returnees, the Cambodian media outlet said.
Thailand and Cambodia entered the second day of a Joint Boundary Commission meeting on Sunday in an effort to resolve the border conflict.