Thailand Law Journal 2009 Spring Issue 1 Volume 12

3. Pull Factors

On the Thai side of the border, the economic situation is booming by comparison.  Thailand is the wealthiest of its immediate neighbors, of which Burma is one of the poorest.  The developmental differential, disparate political and economic situations, improved economic opportunities, and availability of jobs lure thousands from Burma to Thailand, where there is an enormous demand for cheap labor.

The economic growth in the region during the 80s and early 90s created a demand for labour.  This demand especially included jobs that require manual and/or unskilled labour on construction sites and plantations and other heavy/difficult, dirty and dangerous work, or in homes, restaurants and brothels.  A flow of Thai workers into richer countries to get high returns had led to a shortage of local labour.  In order to replace the local workforce, illegal aliens who had no choice but to accept work in any conditions with low wages were employed. [FN107]

However, despite the demand for such laborers, Thailand's restrictive immigration and labor policies mean that many of those who fill that demand are irregular migrants and illegal laborers, and thus vulnerable to trafficking and other exploitation. “With no system in place for recruiting unskilled workers, the demand has been fulfilled by informal recruitment networks, which have taken advantage of the vulnerability of people from war-torn countries, particularly women and young girls.”  [FN108] Further, “[i]n the absence of organized migration programmes for low-skilled persons, this demand is often supplied through irregular migration. Without labour protection, these migrants are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked into economic and/or sexual exploitation.”  [FN109]

The vulnerability of women and girls to trafficking and sexual exploitation begins in Burma and continues through the migration progress, but it does not end once they arrive in Thailand. The factors increasing vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation in Thailand are discussed next.

G. Situation in Thailand: Receiving Side Factors Increasing the Vulnerability of Burmese Migrants to Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation

Once in Thailand, people from Burma find relatively improved economic opportunities due to a demand for cheap migrant labor, but they also encounter discriminatory and prejudicial cultural attitudes, lack of legal and refugee status, and poor treatment and exploitative working conditions. The combination of these factors increases their vulnerability to trafficking and other forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation.

1. Cultural Attitudes

Thai culture varies substantially from Burmese culture, and that of its numerous ethnic groups. “Migrant and refugee women feel that they face particular difficulty when try [sic] to change attitudes since they live in a situation where their cultural identity is threatened. They find it hard to challenge attitudes and behaviors which are seen as ‘part of the culture.”’ [FN110] However, these cultural prejudices create a climate in which trafficking and other exploitation are allowed to flourish.

Prejudice and discrimination characterize the relationship between Thais and Burmese whose kingdoms have been fighting each other for hundreds of years.  Even in the present day, border skirmishes cause Thai-Burmese border crossings to be shut down at least once annually.  This prejudice encompasses the ethnic Burmese, Shan and tribal minorities.  Although the Shan people are ethnically and linguistically related to the Northern Thai, Thais are prejudiced against them for their darker skin.  Many Burmese women who seek to pass as Thai cut their traditional long hair into a Thai bob and lighten their skin through chemicals or by actually rubbing the outer layer of the skin off of their faces with a smooth stone.

These prejudices are more than skin-deep; they also underlie discriminatory policies and practices.  Unlike members of other ethnic groups from Burma fleeing oppression, people from Shan State are not given “person of concern” protection. This prejudice is also reflected in on-the-ground practices, such as a chief police inspector in the South of Thailand who stated: “[I]t is disgraceful to let Burmese men frequent Thai prostitutes. Therefore I have been flexible in allowing Burmese prostitutes to work here. Most of their clients are Burmese men.” [FN111] Women from Burma are often found in the worst brothel conditions, and even in “voluntary” sex establishments, they command the lowest prices. The highest class establishments are reserved for Thais.

6 2. Legal Status

Legal status in Thailand, and the lack thereof, also contributes to the vulnerability of people from Burma to trafficking, sexual exploitation, and labor exploitation.  Asylum, immigration and labor laws, policies and practices are three areas of particular concern.

As discussed previously, Thailand does not officially recognize refugees under international law.  While it recognizes certain victims of conflict as entitled to protection and humanitarian assistance in refugee camps, this “person of concern” status is granted disparately to different ethnic groups from Burma. For example, the status is not available to the majority of women and girls fleeing persecution and oppression in the Shan State, even though they are also facing fighting and human rights abuse. [FN112] Instead, Thailand considers people from the Shan State to be economic migrants, making many of them irregular migrants and undocumented illegal workers ineligible for basic protections and vulnerable to all forms of exploitation, including trafficking, prostitution, and exploitation by employers.

Under Thai immigration law, irregular migrants are subject to arrest, fines and deportation for immigration violations.  Violators face months-long detentions in jail-like immigration detention centers until they can pay their way back to Burma.  Despite domestic and international laws to the contrary, even victims of trafficking, including underage victims, have been arrested for prostitution and trafficking.

[FN107]. Nang Lao Liang Won, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Guidelines on Strategies & Responses to the Needs of Burmese Migrant Women in Thailand (2d ed. 1999).

[FN108]. Id.

[FN109]. U.N. ECOSOC, supra note 93, at P 117.

[FN110]. Somwong, supra note 67.

[FN111]. Modern Form of Slavery, supra note 23, at n.18.

[FN112]. Women's Comm'n for Refugee Women & Children, Fear and Hope: Displaced Burmese Women in Burma and Thailand 8 (2000) [hereinafter Fear and Hope].

This article is published with the kind permission of Christa Foster Crawford. The article originally appeared in Cardozo Journal of Law & Gender, Summer 2006 issue.