Burmese Migrants in Thailand: An Overview and Analysis
by Jon Fox

27 November 2009

Kaija's boss, like many factory owners, deducts living expenses directly from his salary. These include eight baht per day for rice, 20 baht for a daily portion of home-made curry, and extra utility fees. Housing for Kaija is free, but consists of a floor mat in a large stuffy hall shared by a hundred other single male factory workers. At the end of a 14-hour work day, Kaija pockets around only 70 baht.

Dirty, Dangerous, and Degrading

The advantages of never-ending cheap migrant labor usually go unappreciated in Thailand. It is a commonly held assumption that since Burmese migrant workers, especially the undocumented ones, are willing to work for very low wages in hazardous conditions, they drive down wages and working conditions for everyone, particularly unskilled Thai laborers.  Yet a recent study conducted in Thailand, which examined whether places with higher concentrations of migrants had lower wages, found that a 10 percent increase in migrants reduced the wages of local Thai workers by only 0.2 percent and did not lower overall employment rates.¹

While these findings may seem counter intuitive, there is a simple explanation. Burmese migrant workers take the jobs that Thais simply do not want. They are the jobs characterized by the three D's—dirty, dangerous, and degrading. Across the country, countless factories and industries employ migrant laborers in dreadful conditions no Thai would ever accept, and that Thai labor law forbids. Yet while migrants clean our toilets and pack our food, protectionist and nationalist rhetoric continue to spread on the streets, splashed across the headlines.² Stories of criminal gangs and dredged up historic injustices come together in protectionist government polices that target migrant workers.³

A Global Story

In early October, the UNDP launched its 2009 Human Development Report, specially focused on migrant labor, in Bangkok.⁴ The hefty 230 page report examined global migration trends, thrashed negative stereotypes linked to migrant workers, and stressed the benefits migrant labor provides for host nations. The report looked at who migrants are, where they come from and go to, and why they move. It was no accident that the UNDP released the report in Thailand, for the story of labor migration playing out in Thailand today provides a snapshot of wider global trends.

The UNDP report provides practical recommendations and encourages individual nations to appreciate the positive contributions that economic migration offers host countries. The report suggests that in order to encourage economic development, host countries should allow unskilled workers to move more freely within the countries’ borders and grant workers access to basic social services, such as health and education.

Thailand's government is no exception to the global economic inclination encouraging the flow of goods, services, and capital across borders while restricting movement of people. Governments, politicians, and public figures often target and demonize migrant workers.⁵ Unsurprisingly, the UNDP report found that over 72 percent of Thais surveyed are in favor of restricting the arrival of economic migrants.⁶ In comparison, less then 60 percent of Americans polled made the same choice.

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