Disgruntled Thai workers were caught scrambling across a border rooftop to escape Cambodia amid a bitter territorial dispute between the two countries.

The 10 labourers were found by soldiers clambering up a building near the Ban Khlong Luek border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo early morning on Wednesday, July 2.

They claimed they were construction workers in Phnom Penh who decided to flee across the border after they were not paid for more than a month.

The group said their employer had seized their IDs and passports before taking them to the casino city of Poipet, where a trafficker demanded 3,000 baht (68 GBP) to help them return to Thailand.

Suspicious police detained the workers who were suspected of fleeing from a scam call centre in Cambodia.

Police Colonel Phattarakorn Khaonual, superintendent of the Khlong Luek Police Station, said: 'We found that this group was connected to a mule account network, with eight individuals listed under online police reports and one individual under an arrest warrant. They were found to be lying to officers while under arrest.

‘They will be charged with entering or exiting the country without passing through a port of entry, immigration checkpoint, terminal area, station, or locality at the prescribed times.

‘They were handed over to the inquiry officer for legal procedures.

‘As for those with standing arrest warrants, they will be collected by the police station with jurisdiction over their case.'

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia escalated after a clash between troops from both countries in a disputed area in Nam Yuen district, Ubon Ratchathani, on May 28, resulting in the death of a Cambodian sergeant.

Thailand expressed its intention to resolve the dispute through existing bilateral mechanisms.

However, Cambodia vowed to take the case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and current Prime Minister Hun Manet claimed that the disputed area belongs to Cambodia.