Migrant workers continue to suffer in Thai industries

It shouldn’t have to take a woman with high moral authority to shine the spotlight on the appalling conditions of migrant workers from Myanmar in Thailand.

How Myanmar workers are treated and paid in this country, and the conditions they suffer, should have been enough of a case in itself to attract much-needed attention.

But with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Mahachai – home to Thailand’s largest population of Myanmar workers – it is nevertheless to be hoped that this ongoing labour issue will get the kind of attention it deserves.

It would have been better if our political leaders had the moral courage to do something from the beginning, but instead they have always chosen to turn a blind eye. Not only that, they are also unabashed when it comes to decisions such as deportations and not permitting workers from Myanmar to carry out cultural activities.

Like other Asean authorities, Thai officials often talk about Asean unity, noting that Thailand and Myanmar share the same roof. But that’s just rhetoric and lip service and we all know it.

Where unity really counts is at the people-to-people level. And this is where the Asean regional grouping has failed.

Forging people-to-people ties has never been easy in this part of the world, where political leaders often play up nationalistic sentiment to boost their standing in spite of the fact that it comes at the expense of better ties with neighbours.

Suu Kyi’s visit to the migrant workers reminds us of what really matters. At its root, this is not what the negotiated text of Asean rhetoric says; it is about these moments of integrity and compassion. One way – perhaps the only way – to measure the significance of our own lives is by valuing the lives of others.

Myanmar workers in Thailand may be downtrodden, but they are still hopeful. They are hopeful that “The Lady” can reverse decades of economic ruin and build much-needed confidence so that investment and development can take place in Myanmar, so that they can return home and work in a more dignified setting and manner.

Many have left their parents and children to come here and take up jobs shunned by our own people. Thailand hosts more than two million Myanmar workers, mostly in manual-labour industries.

Many of these workers have paid what was for them huge sums of money to be smuggled into the country by so-called agents who take a big cut of their income. Many of these agents are Thai and Burmese officials whose only interest is making money, not helping improve the lives of itinerant workers.

According to Andy Hall, an expert at the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, nearly half of Myanmar workers in Thailand have no work permit. Nevertheless, they contribute as much as 7 per cent of Thailand’s GDP.

Moreover, the fact that they make up between 5 and 10 per cent of the Thai work force should be enough for us to take their concerns seriously.

“When you work in another country, be responsible and skilful, so people in the country can respect you,” Suu Kyi told those she met in Mahachai. The 67-year-old Nobel laureate said she would ask that their children be permitted to attend school here.

Suu Kyi promised to take up their case and do whatever she can to improve their conditions. Her next stop in this endeavour is the International Labour Organisation.

It is sad that we have had to wait for a world-famous icon from another country to shine the spotlight on such shortcomings here. A responsible nation with adequate moral courage would not have let itself descend to this position.