The acceleration was announced following a meeting on Thursday among relevant officials chaired by Labour Minister Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew.

The centres will focus on two groups.

Migrant workers who have already had their nationalities verified must report to a centre to receive a visa to remain in the country until March 31, 2020, and a temporary work permit valid until June 30 this year.

They must also undergo a health check to register for a formal work permit valid until March 31, 2020.

The other group entails those whose nationality has not yet been verified. They must complete processing by March 31 so that verification is done by June 30. They would then be allowed to stay and work in Thailand until March 31, 2020.

The OSS must process 1,687,473 migrant workers in Thailand from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos – 1,197,563 of whom are still in various steps of being deemed legal.

Of this latter figure, 988,798 have completed nationality verification.