By Nathaphob Sungkate
Independent Journalist on Migration
On the night of March 28, 2025, I received a message from a friend. He told me about his housekeeper, a Myanmar migrant from Taunggyi, south of Mandalay. After the earthquake struck, she lost contact with her children and had nowhere to turn for help. Given the collapse of Myanmar’s social infrastructure following the 2021 military coup, she had no hope that the junta-led government would assist her family in this time of crisis.
Since 2021, waves of people from Myanmar have sought refuge in Thailand—some fleeing economic hardship, others escaping war, but most simply running for their lives. Many have arrived as migrant workers, hoping to survive in a country not their own.
One of my friends was once a biology teacher at a high school in Myanmar. After the 2021 military coup, he joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in protest of the country’s backslide into dictatorship. The consequence? He was forced to flee to Thailand, where he now works as a migrant laborer. His sister, who holds a master’s degree, also had to take a job as a waitress in Thailand.
As a journalist covering the plight of Myanmar migrants, I have witnessed the recurring waves of hostility against them—whether through crackdowns on migrant workers or the shutdown of learning centers, as seen in Ang Thong, Surat Thani, and most recently, Phuket. Misinformation spreads rapidly, stoking fears among some Thais that Myanmar migrants are demanding a 700-baht daily wage, taking jobs from locals, or even attempting to overpopulate the country.
Some factions excel at crafting narratives that dehumanize and suppress Myanmar migrants, branding them as mere ‘alien workers’ or second-class citizens in Thailand. Others justify their stance by claiming, “I oppose illegal workers, but I understand legal ones.” Yet they fail to acknowledge that Thailand’s own system forces many migrants into undocumented status. While the country relies heavily on cheap migrant labor, the bureaucratic hurdles and exorbitant fees required to renew work permits—due to middlemen and corrupt officials—trap many in a cycle of illegality.
No one chooses to be an illegal worker if they have a fair and accessible path to legality.
Since the devastating collapse of the Office of the Auditor General building in Chatuchak, Bangkok, where migrant workers were seen fleeing in terror, crying over those trapped beneath the rubble, a stark reality has emerged. These workers, often dismissed as outsiders, are integral to Thailand’s development. Their suffering should remind Thai society that the anti-migrant rhetoric pushed by certain groups is not only misleading but inhumane.
Every day, these migrants perform the dirty, dangerous, and demanding jobs that sustain Thailand’s economy. In major accidents—from the tragedies on Rama II Road to this most recent building collapse—migrant workers have been among the casualties.
Myanmar migrants are our neighbors, whether we acknowledge it or not. At the very least, they deserve our understanding and empathy.
If they were born in the 1990s, they would have endured 20 years of brutal dictatorship. In 2011, a brief glimpse of hope emerged as Myanmar began opening up, only for it to be shattered a decade later by another military coup and ensuing civil war. People my age, in their 30s, have been forced to leave their homes, their families, and their dreams behind. They face discrimination and resentment in Thailand, and now, an earthquake has added yet another layer of suffering—taking lives, destroying property, and leaving emotional scars that may never heal.
If many Thais felt fear over an earthquake centered hundreds of kilometers away, imagine the fear of Myanmar migrants in Thailand who are unable to contact their families, uncertain of their fate.
In moments of crisis like this, as neighbors and fellow human beings, our understanding and compassion matter more than ever.
See original Thai article, https://transbordernews.in.th/home/?p=41861
