Migrant factory workers from Burma are feeling the effects of Thailand’s economic slowdown, say laid off workers as well as members of exile media and advocacy groups.
“Many workers have been laid off,” Than Zaw U, from the Migrant Karen Labor Union, told IMNA. “It is happening in factories across Thailand.” Lay offs have been occurring in areas around Bangkok, as well as Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, Than Zaw U added, although he was unsure of exact numbers.
The number of those laid off can be expected to be large, however; Thailand is home to at least 2 million migrant workers from Burma, most of whom are working in the country illegally. According to a 2005 report by Amnesty International, Burmese make up as much as 80% of the migrant worker population in Thailand.
In the border town of Mae Sot, for instance, 3,000 workers lost their jobs during November, the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs told the Irrawaddy recently. Workers elsewhere have also been experience difficulties, said the Irrawaddy in the same article, with workers being laid off or facing reduced hours and pay.
Many workers fired received little to no advance warning, said Than Zaw U, who added that he had been contacted for help by both Burmese and Laos workers from shoe and furniture factories in Mahachai, southern Thailand. “The migrant workers said they want to get compensation from their managers because the bosses did not give them any notice,” Than Zaw U told IMNA. “Now they have a difficult situation – they don’t have another job ready.”
“We can do nothing. We will just have to go find another job,” said a woman from Paung Township, Mon State, who was recently laid off from a fish cannery in Pattaya. About 45 other workers were also laid off on November 30th, including her 18-year-old-daughter, said the woman.
All those fired were working illegally without visas or work permits from the Thai government, added the woman, whose husband continues to be employed because he has Thai identification papers. More downsizing is expected, said another worker, from Chaung zone Township, Mon State, who is employed in the same factory. As with the November 30th layoffs, workers illegally in Thailand are likely to be targeted first.
Thailand’s economic situation has been steadily declining and, on December 1st, Suchart Thadathamrongvej, Thailand’s Finance Minister, said that he expects growth to continue declining, to rates of between zero and 1.3 percent in 2009.
Thailand’s woes can be attributed to a global economic slowdown, which has hit economies world wide, as well as a protracted domestic political crisis. A crisis which, most recently, featured a weeklong occupation by protesters of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, crippling the vital tourism industry before its peak season.
In an attempt to spark growth, on Wednesday Thailand’s central bank announced the most drastic interest rate cut in the country’s history. Whether this will boost growth – and the fortunes of Burmese workers in Thailand – remains to be seen. “The recent political turmoil…makes the Thai outlook even gloomier,” said a recent article by the New York based Market Watch. “The large move by the Bank of Thailand suggests serious concern about growth prospects for 2009.”
