Sri Lanka, Aug. 20 -- Thailand's Cabinet has approved the hiring of 10,000 Sri Lankan workers as it tries to address a labour shortage caused by Cambodian workers returning home in the wake of a deadly border conflict between the two countries, a Thai senior official said yesterday, Reuters reported.

Thailand's ageing population and shrinking workforce has forced it to rely on at least three million registered foreign labourers across the agriculture, construction, and manufacturing sectors, data from the International Labour Organisation showed.

More than 30,000 workers from Sri Lanka have already registered and 10,000 will be sent to Thailand in the first stage, Labour Minister Pongkawin Jungrungruangkit told reporters, adding that it...