The border at Poipet is becoming a de facto refugee camp with numbers of Cambodians fleeing the country exceeding 43,000 at that one crossing yesterday.
The International Organization for Migration is monitoring an exodus that looks to become a stampede as many Cambodians and over at Mae Sot an increasing number of Burmese seek to exit Thailand.
The tweeter means out of Thailand. The IOM is the International Organization for Migration, an NGO monitoring human migration throughout the world.
The Thai Military which took over the government has yet to forcibly repatriate anyone, but rumor control in Bangkok has caused many Cambodians working illegally to flee fearing much harsher penalties if caught. There are over a million illegal immigrants in Thailand, mostly Cambodian, Laotian, and Burmese.
I started writing this post a couple days ago. Every day I have to put in higher numbers. I doubt everyone is leaving due to a rumor. Maybe some who are arrested for working illegally are having not good things happen to them. Thailand is under martial law and the constitution was suspended a couple weeks ago.
Most media operates under very tight censorship laws. Tourism sources report life as usual. A few Kossacks live in Thailand.
Thailand is a large country with a big economy. Things sound kinda chaotic of late.
Update AM Sunday,,, Not much to add, just seemed like a lot of people, story picked up by NYT and others. I'm working most of the day and so can't respond much to comments though I'd think there's not much to say. Sounds like there have been deportations. I'd caution people to only half believe statements from the Thai press. They might well be repeating verbatim what they are told to say. Kind of like reading the People's Daily used to be like in China.
http://www.nytimes.com/...