The government acknowledged more than 900,000 migrant workers had not yet completed their registration process to work legally in Thailand, said spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd. The Labour Ministry said earlier that nearly 2 million migrant workers from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia needed to be registered before being allowed to work in Thailand. That figure is made up of 1.2 million migrant workers from Myanmar, 616,282 from Cambodia and 159,313 from Laos.

The ministry has already completed verification of the nationalities and documentation for 1,041,043 people but could not complete all remaining workers within the original March 31 deadline.

Labour Minister Adul Saengsingkaew had said on Thursday that he would seek Cabinet approval next week to extend the deadline for the national verification process until June 30, but that timing would not work since the new law on migrant worker management is scheduled to come into force on January 1.

Prayut is considering a quick solution using Article 44 to solve the problem, said Sansern.

National verification is compulsory for migrant worker documentation after the current military-backed government issued a new law on migrant worker management, stipulating tough punishment for the use of illegal migrant workers.

According to the new foreign labour law, employers of illegal migrants could face a hefty fine of Bt400,000 to Bt800,000 per migrant worker if found to have violated the law.

The government decided to delay enforcement after panicked migrants fled back home due to fear of tough punishment.

“The prime minister gives importance to effective management of workers to solve the problem permanently,” Sansern said. “Employers and employees should understand the rules and procedures. Don’t panic.”

One-stop service centres in provinces are being put in place to speed up the national verification process, he said, adding that migrant workers must be documented by the end of June next year.

The national verification for migrant workers stirred a controversy in November when Prayut blamed the former director of the employment department for the slow progress and demoted him to an inactive post, prompting the surprise resignation of General Sirichai Distakul as labour minister.

Prayut then exercised his absolute powers under Article 44 to restructure the migrant worker management, setting up a new committee to take care of the task.

The new committee is chaired by the permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry. Its members include officials from not only the Labour Ministry but also from the Foreign and Interior ministries, as well as police.