The Ministry of Public Health is preparing the Covid-19 vaccine for any migrant workers who cross the border to work in Thailand, said minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
"The aim is to make people in the country safe and prevent a new round of the virus from spreading," he said.
He said the ministry had a clear policy to provide the Covid-19 vaccine to all alien workers whether they are in Thailand legally or not, adding there is enough vaccine to go around.
"We will have Covid-19 vaccination service centres along the border to vaccinate immigrant workers. In cases of illegal entry, we will give them the vaccine before pushing them back," he said.
The ministry will submit the vaccination plan for December to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) tomorrow, covering a plan to provide the vaccine to all non-Thai citizens for free. This is in line with the government's policy to provide the vaccine to everyone in the country.
Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, chief of the Department of Disease Control, said the department knows that illegal migration across the border is rising thanks to increased demand for workers.
"If it is not possible to control illegal border crossings, we should include all of them in the public health system," he said.
The riskiest point of illegal labour smuggling is along the western border from Mae Hong Son to Ranong provinces where the number of people vaccinated is low.
"Whatever channel or passage they use to enter our country, we will give them the vaccine for the sake of everyone's safety.
"We have told all state-owned hospitals so they can get the vaccine distributed to them without difficulty," he said.
The Health Systems Research Institute said there are around 1.3 million legal and illegal migrant workers in the country, of whom many have not yet been jabbed, especially those not covered by the social security scheme.