The Labour Ministry has come up measures to reduce the number of children of illegal migrant workers in the country by 2018 and make sure none remain by 2020.
Labour Ministry deputy permanent secretary Waranont Pitiwan said more than 118,00 children belonging to illegal migrant workers from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have been allowed to remain in the country temporarily since 2004 after their parents won deportation reprieves.
According to the Education Ministry, more than 70,000 of these children have studied in Thai schools, Mr Waranont added.
Measures are now being put in place to curb their number, he said.
They include ending the registration of illegal migrant workers and supporting migrants who qualify under labour cooperation agreements which Thailand has made with neighbouring countries.
As stipulated in these agreements, migrant workers are not permitted to bring their children with them when they take up work here.
Another measure is that when a migrant worker's employment contract ends, he or she must return to their home country along with their children.
Children of migrant workers who reach the legal working age and want to work in Thailand will be allowed to do so but must return to their home countries when their work contracts end.
Other measures include a campaign to encourage birth control among migrant workers and preventing new migrant workers and their children from entering the country illegally, Mr Waranont said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office has announced the types of jobs which foreign migrants from certain countries can perform.
The announcement, signed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday.
The rules outlined in the announcement do not apply to migrants from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia and other nationalities stipulated by law.
Foreign migrants given special dispensation to remain in the country for a lengthy period and who are registered under the civil registration law, as well as their children who were born in the country, are allowed to work in all fields except government jobs and work relating to national security.
This also covers migrants issued with documents from district chiefs proving they are in the process of obtaining Thai nationality verification under the civil registration law.