Thailand Law Journal 2009 Spring Issue 1 Volume 12

C. Economic Disparity between Myanmar and Thailand
The greatest factor that is pulling Burmese migrants to enter Thailand is the economic disparity between Myanmar and Thailand. In 2004, the International Monetary Fund ranked Myanmar's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)⁵⁶ as 108<th> out of 178 countries. This ranking is substantially lower than Thailand's rank as 33<rd>. Thailand's GDP was reported as US $ 163,512,000 and Myanmar's as US $ 6,891,000.⁵⁷ In fact, Burmese migrants can make three or four times as much in daily wages in Thailand as they can in Myanmar. A study conducted by the World Vision Foundation of Thailand and the Asian Research Center for Migration between January and May 2003 (hereinafter "WVF and ARC 2003 Survey") found that 50% to 90% of respondents in varying Thai provinces had received less than 50 baht (US $ 1.25) per day while working in Myanmar.⁵⁸ This is a sharp contrast to the Thai minimum wage of 133 baht (US $ 3.25) per day.⁵⁹

There are numerous reasons why Myanmar is so relatively poor in comparison to Thailand, and when contrasted to developed nations like the United States, the disparity is even worse. One contrasting characteristic that is often identified between Myanmar and Thailand is that Thailand was never colonized, whereas Myanmar was under British and Japanese colonial rule for over sixty years.⁶⁰ Many argue that the world's present wealth stratification is a result of colonialism; colonial powers extracted resources from colonized countries and pushed them into poverty.⁶¹ Mismanagement and bad economic policies are also proposed as contributing factors.⁶² The military junta isolated Myanmar from the international community after gaining power in 1962 and created a centrally planned economy, leading the country to economic decline.⁶³ Others point to unchecked military spending,⁶⁴ arbitrary agricultural policies that keep prices artificially low, and arbitrary taxes.⁶⁵

More than likely, economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar have been the greatest cause of widespread poverty, inflation, and unemployment or underemployment. The European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Myanmar in 1996.⁶⁶ Currently, debate is growing over the effectiveness of the sanctions and whether they are actually hurting the military junta or are instead punishing ordinary people.⁶⁷ "Anti-sanctions academics and lobbyists argue that the sanctions destroy Burma's future, weaken infrastructure, strengthen the regime's control and harm the public more than the junta."⁶⁸ Economic sanctions have prevented direct foreign investments of much needed capital and income that would help lift the country's economy.⁶⁹ More importantly, sanctions have caused uncontrolled inflation. From 2002 to 2003, there was a 50% average increase in consumer prices.⁷⁰ The 2005 to 2006 inflation rate is forecasted to be 20%.⁷¹ The uncontrolled inflation for basic commodities are a result of the country's inability to import;⁷² whether it is cooking oil or fruits, many working class citizens are unable to afford the high prices.⁷³

Whatever the true causes, it is evident that low wages, high unemployment, and pervasive poverty are pushing people out of  Myanmar and into Thailand. A 1997 survey conducted in six Thai provinces with a sizable number of illegal labor migrants indicates that more than 70% of the migrants entered Thailand because of higher income and better living conditions.⁷⁴ Migration is further fueled by the need for low wage labor in Thailand. The average annual growth of the Thai population is only 0.8%, and the prime labor force age group of fifteen to thirty-nine-year-olds is no longer growing at all.⁷⁵ A study conducted in 2000 by Chulalongkorn University's Asian Research Center for Migration reveals that there is a shortage of labor in Thailand, especially in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, and livestock.⁷⁶ It is estimated that an additional 107,235 workers are needed to fill the shortage.⁷⁷ While the labor force and the general Thai population are no longer growing, the population of neighboring countries like Myanmar continues to expand,⁷⁸ offering a steady supply of laborers.

III. OVERVIEW OF BURMESE ECONOMIC MIGRANTS IN THAILAND
In order to better understand and critique Thai policy towards Burmese migrants, it is important to understand not only why Burmese are leaving Myanmar, but also who the migrants are demographically. Migrants' gender, age, class, and education should be considered in policies that seek to make migration mutually beneficial to both migrants and the destination country. Demographic analysis should factor into policies aimed at both registered and unregistered migrants because there seems to be no quantifiable demographic difference between the two groups. Contributions to Thai society by Burmese migrants also need to be examined to contextualize why the Thai government's policies have been ambivalent toward migrant welfare and border security. Thai  sentiments toward Burmese migrants are mixed: many Thais welcome their cheap labor but fear their perceived difference.

A. Demographics of Migrants
Burmese migrants vary in age, gender, family composition, and ethnicity. Though there is a greater demand for adolescent and young adult migrants, employed migrants tend to be between fourteen and forty-years-old.⁷⁹ There seems to be a relative balance in gender also. Of the work permits issued from July through December 2004, 497,372 went to males and 408,509 went to females. In other words, 45% of Burmese migrants with permits were women and 55% were men.⁸⁰ However, demand for female migrants is growing because women are targeted to fill positions in the garment-manufacturing, domestic, and sex-work industries.⁸¹ Oftentimes, families will send a young family member to Thailand to find work and to help support the rest of the family.⁸² These young people send remittances to their families from what little they are able to save.⁸³ On the other hand, some families immigrate together.⁸⁴ Additionally, young Burmese couples often start families within Thailand.⁸⁵ Migrants are composed of various ethnicities and do not necessarily share a common culture and language; the majority are Bamar, Shan, Karen, Karenni, and Mon.⁸⁶

Common characteristics of Burmese migrants include low levels of education, rural geographic origins, and poor or working class status. In the WVF and ARC 2003 survey, 17% of respondents reported that they had no formal education, 60% had studied for one to eight years, and only 20% had up to nine years of schooling.⁸⁷ The illiteracy rate is also high among migrants, especially women and children.⁸⁸ These migrants predominantly come from rural areas in Myanmar, where there tends to be more unemployment and underemployment.⁸⁹ Lastly, most migrants are poor or working class; they seem to be the most affected by the devastated Myanmar economy.

Once entered into Thailand, Burmese migrants tend to work either near the Thai-Myanmar border or migrate to central Thailand, specifically Bangkok.⁹⁰ Of the total work permits issued in the northern region, 97% were for Burmese migrants. In the southern region 90% of the total work permits were for Burmese migrants.⁹¹ These regions are geographically close to Myanmar. The stay for migrants in Thailand is usually long; the majority of those in the WVF and ARC 2003 survey had been in Thailand for three to five years, and 29% of the respondents had been in Thailand for more than five years.⁹² Migrants from Myanmar who work on the Thai border tend to work in fishing, seafood-processing, agriculture, manufacturing, and domestic service.⁹³

[FN56] Gross Domestic Product is a measure of the value of economic production in a state during a fixed period of time. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, GLOSSARY OF TERMS FOR THE ECONOMIC CENSUS, available at http://bhs.econ.census.gov/econhelp/glossary.

[FN57] See The International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (Sept. 2005), http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2005/02/data/index.htm.

[FN58] JERROLD W. HUGUET & SUREEPORN PUNPUING, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION IN THAILAND 6 (2005), available at http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/books/iom_thailand.pdf. The "study found that 50 per cent of the respondents in Mae Sai had received less than 50 baht per day while working in Myanmar ... eighty-six per cent of the migrants in Mae Sot and 90 per cent of those in Ranong reported earning less than 50 baht per day in Myanmar." Id.

[FN59] Marwaan Macan-Markar, Thailand: Burmese Migrants Find Low Pay and Harsh Work, IPS-INTER PRESS SERV., Oct. 1, 2003, available at http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/BNI2003-10-06.htm.

[FN60] Compare BUREAU OF E. ASIAN & PAC. AFFAIRS, U.S. DEP'T OF STATE, BACKGROUND NOTE: THAILAND (Nov. 2006), http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2814.htm with Burma Background Note, supra 14.

[FN61] See generally Lakshmi Iyer, The Long-term Impact of Colonial Rule: Evidence from India (Oct. 2004) (Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 05-041, 2005), available at http://www.people.hbs.edu/liyer/iyer_colonial_oct2004.pdf.

[FN62] See Anna E. Johansson, Comment, A Silent Emergency Persists: The Limited Efficacy of U.S. Investment Sanctions on Burma, 9 PAC. RIM L. & POL'Y J. 317, 319-20 (2000).

[FN63] Id.

[FN64] See Washington On Burma: Rangoon Could Destabilise Region, THE NATION (Bangkok), Apr. 11, 2005.

[FN65] HUGUET & PUNPUING, supra note 58, at 6-7.

[FN66] Myanmar was first sanctioned in 1995 through the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act of 1995. H.R. Res. 2892, 104th Cong. (1995) (enacted). The sanctions were renewed in 2003. Press Release, The White House, Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 and Executive Order (July 28, 2003), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030728-8.html.

[FN67] See Washington On Burma, supra note 64.

[FN68] Id.

[FN69] But see Adrienne S. Khorasanee, Note and Comment: Sacrificing Burma to Save Free Trade: The Burma Freedom Act and the World Trade Organization, 35 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1295 (2002) (arguing that moral consciousness and social responsibility required the United States to impose sanctions on Myanmar).

[FN70] Clive Parker & Louis Reh, supra note 19. Many analysts attribute the uncontrolled inflation to the Myanmar government's practice of printing the Burmese kyat on demand to pay for its deficit.

[FN71] Id.

[FN72] THERESA M. CAOUETTE & MARY E. PACK, PUSHING PAST THE DEFINITIONS: MIGRATION FROM BURMA TO THAILAND 25-26 (Refugees International and Open Society Institute, 2002) (citing migrant's personal commentaries for their reasons of migrating).

[FN73] Interview with Daw Shwe Kyi, Burmese migrant, in Samut Songkrahm, Thail. (Aug. 7, 2005). (recounting how inflation, coupled with a steady low wage, was impoverishing her family and how she had to smuggle in various commodities like cooking oil back home to Myanmar).

[FN74] Pitayanon, supra note 54, at 12.

[FN75] HUGUET & PUNPUING, supra note 58, at 5.

[FN76] Pitayanon, supra note 54, at 11.

[FN77] Other industries with heavy shortages of labor were rice mills, construction, mining, cargo shipping, and warehouse and grain storage. Id.

[FN78] HUGUET & PUNPUING, supra note 58, at 5.

[FN79] CAOUETTE & PACK, supra note 72, at 14.

[FN80] Bureau of Migrant Worker Administration, Thail. Ministry of Labour, available at http://www.iom-seasia.org/index.php?page=stat_th.

[FN81] THERESA M. CAOUETTE, SMALL DREAMS BEYOND REACH: THE LIVES OF MIGRANT CHILDREN AND YOUTH ALONG THE BORDERS OF CHINA, MYANMAR AND THAILAND 6 (2001), available at http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk_cache/scuk/cache/cmsattach/412_smalldreams.pdf.

[FN82] CAOUETTE & PACK, supra note 72, at 14.

[FN83] See id.

[FN84] Interview with Daw Shwe Kyi, supra note 73. Daw Shwe Kyi described how she, her husband, and her eldest son immigrated into Thailand together. She refuses to let her second son come because life is hard in Thailand, and, as a parent, she says she will not let her child go through that kind of experience.

[FN85] Interview with Sandar Win, Burmese migrant, in Samut Songkrahm, Thail. (Aug. 7, 2005). Sandar Win and her mother immigrated to Thailand in order to make a living. Her father had died when she was 8 years old and he was the only source of income for the family. She could not graduate from high school because of his death. Arriving in Thailand, she met her husband and they had a child.

[FN86] CAOUETTE & PACK, supra note 72, at 14.

[FN87] HUGUET & PUNPUING, supra note 58, at 31.

[FN88] CAOUETTE & PACK, supra note 72, at 14.

[FN89] HUGUET & PUNPUING, supra note 58, at 5.

[FN90] Id. at 30.

[FN91] Id. at 30-31.

[FN92] Id. at 31.

[FN93] Id. at 33.