Thailand is one of the main destination countries for migrant workers from Myanmar due to higher wages compared to Myanmar. The long-running civil war in Myanmar has led to economic hardship and driven many citizens abroad to find work.
Following the military coup in Myanmar in 2021, the number of Myanmar workers migrating to neighboring Thailand has increased significantly. Some of them go to Thailand through official channels, such as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries, but there are also more illegal immigrants than in previous years.
The Shan Herald Agency interviewed Sai Gun, in charge of the Human Rights Development Foundation (HRDF), an organization that supports Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, about the situation of Myanmar migrants in Thailand.
Q: How much has the number of Myanmar migrant workers coming to Thailand increased after the military coup?
A: After the coup in Myanmar, as far as I know, a lot of people from Shan State came to Chiang Mai in the last 2-3 years. Based on our field visits, many have come, but I can’t give an exact number. In the Chiang Mai region, many of them work on farms, plantations and in factories.
Q: And where do these migrant workers work?
A: Most of them work on vegetable farms, corn plantations and orange orchards.
Q: Some work in construction after arriving in Thailand. What is the situation of migrant workers in this sector?
A: There are also some who work in construction. Our field visits revealed that more work in agriculture than in construction.
Q: What kind of work is the most dangerous for them?
A: The most dangerous work is on the farms. Especially on the orange orchards, a lot of chemicals and pesticides are used which are very harmful, but they don’t know the pros and cons of these chemicals. So it’s very dangerous for them. And the employers don’t tell them how to protect themselves when using these chemicals.
Q: What legal protection is there for farm workers?
A: According to Thai labor law, employers are required to conduct a health check once a year for agricultural workers who work with chemicals all year round. This health examination isn’t a routine check. When migrant workers apply for their work permit every year, the health check is different, it has to be checked in detail – whether there are any chemicals left in the body, how they got into the body, and so on. But most migrant workers in agriculture don’t receive these health checks.
Q: Are these checks not provided by their employers? And the relevant Thai authorities also carry out inspections, what action do they take on this matter?
A: Sometimes this happens when we visit local orange orchards. Some orchard owners say they don’t provide health checks. But the local village headman announces that both Thai workers and migrant workers should get tested. But mostly the migrant workers don’t go.
Q: Since many don’t go for these health checks, are these workers not made aware of how dangerous this work can be?
A: Not usually. Sometimes we go on field visits. Fang Township is very far from Chiang Mai. There are also many orange orchards there, but in the orchards we visited, there are only a few workers. Many other orchards there haven’t yet been visited. Normally, no organizations go there to inform and raise awareness.
Q: How is the financial situation and livelihood of the people working there?
A: It’s very difficult for newcomers. Those who came in the last 1to 2 years after the coup, some of them still don’t have jobs, some of them have jobs, but they only earn about 5,000 to 6,000 baht per month (500,000 to 600,000 Myanmar Kyat), which isn’t enough.
Some have already registered after the Thai government announced 2to 3 months ago that they’d get a residence permit, and they have been saving up money.
Most are still facing difficulties. It’s difficult for newcomers. But those who have lived in Thailand for 4-5 years usually already have a permanent job, so there aren’t many problems for these groups. But for those who have come in the last 2-3 years, some haven’t even been here a whole year, there are still newcomers. So it’s very difficult for them, some don’t have a job yet.
Q: How many new migrants arrived after the coup? And what is life like for them?
A: These newcomers mostly live in hiding with relatives and friends. They can’t leave the area where they live because the Thai people know that new migrants have arrived and if they don’t have a residence permit, they might report them to the authorities. Therefore, they rarely leave their house.
Q: What about the residence permit now? How much does it normally cost? Because normally brokers are involved.
A: Normally, applying for a new work permit starts with registering your name, this step doesn’t cost any money. But most work with brokers who charge at least 1,000 – 5,000 baht just to register the name. Honestly, one baht shouldn’t have to be paid. Employers can upload documents online, or they can take their employees directly to the labour office to register them in person. This is just for name registration. Next are health checks for residence permit issuance, then getting a pink card, passport, visa, etc. – these next steps will cost more money.
Q: How much can those who don’t have a residence permit earn per day working on farms?
A: In the Chiang Dao region, it’s very low. In some places they only earn 60 baht (about 6,000 Myanmar kyat). Some workers say that a lot of people have arrived in the Chiang Dao area recently. For example, when the owners of chilli plantations are looking for workers to harvest chilli, if the brokers take groups of workers, they only get 4,000 to 5,000 baht (400,000 to 500,000 Myanmar kyat) per plantation. If you calculate per person, they don’t get much.
Q: How does the HRDF help with passport problems or compensation for work accidents or chemical injuries? What actions do you take?
A: The help we offer is legal assistance – if they don’t get paid after work or get injured on the job, we offer legal support in these cases. For example, if they don’t get paid after work, on our visits we provide information that is important – you need to know the correct name of your employer, what their name is, what work they do, where they live, date you started working for them – it’s very important to keep a record of all this. And if you don’t know the employer’s name, you can look at the employer’s documents when applying for a residence permit – take a photo of these documents for your records. We offer such support.
Q: If you encounter difficulties in this process, e.g. problems obtaining a work permit, injustice or exploitation by employers, in which areas does HRDF primarily help?
A: In these cases, it depends on the workers. If the workers are afraid to file a complaint, there is nothing we can do. The priority lies with them – for example, if employers exploit them. If they want to file a complaint, we offer them full legal assistance. We don’t charge any fees.
Q: Can you provide legal support to new migrants without passports or work permits if they’re exploited during their work or don’t receive justice? What is the situation?
A: Legally, these new migrants still have rights in labour-related cases. It depends on the relevant authorities nowadays. They can deport them if they don’t have a residence permit. We have come across such cases – then we explain the work process to these labour migrants. They can choose whether they want to lodge a complaint or not, but most of the time they don’t dare to do so if they don’t have any documents.
In addition, the statute of limitations for cases where they aren’t paid after work is two years. This year, many newcomers don’t yet have a residence permit, but have worked and haven’t been paid. But within 4-5 months of receiving the residence permit, they can file a complaint, as the limitation period for this type of case is two years. Migrant workers can file complaints.
Q: What else would you like to say about the problems of migrant workers?
A: Most migrant workers don’t want to take care of a work permit themselves because they don’t want to waste time and don’t want work interruptions and so on. Therefore, most of them work through brokers. Some brokers are good, others take the money and run. Others really charge too much. What I’d like to say is that migrant workers, whatever their situation, – please be fully informed, do your own research before you do anything. I’d like to encourage this.
Q: Thanks very much for answering all these questions.
A: You’re welcome!
Sent by Shan Herald.