BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) decided on Tuesday to provide a six-month leniency in legal restrictions to the employment of migrant workers from neighboring states.

NCPO spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree said the NCPO resolved to delay the enforcement of the government's executive decree, primarily designed to combat illegal employments of migrant workers.

The enforcement of such legal restriction, which was originally effective from June 23, is now being delayed until Jan. 1 next year, the spokesman said.

Under that law, penalties are increased for alleged violators, including migrant workers who may have entered the country illegally or carry no passports or have no work permits and employers who may have hired such illegal migrant workers or failed to notify the authorities.

If found guilty as charged, the employee will be promptly deported while the employer will be subject to a maximum of 800,000 baht (about 22,857 U.S. dollars) in fine under the new law.

The leniency in the applying of the legal restriction came in the wake of more than 18,000 Myanmar nationals scrambling to return home from Thailand since last week at the urging of their employers, who apparently feared such harsh penalties of the law.

Those migrant workers were expected to come back for jobs in Thailand with official documents such as passports to be provided by the Myanmar authorities.

An estimated 2 million Myanmar nationals are known to have been employed either in legal or illegal fashion by manufacturing and fishing industries in Bangkok's outlying areas, particularly in Samut Sakhon province.