Thailand's current policy on migrant workers is set to be discussed by at least 30 representatives from various organizations, which help migrant workers. The representatives will also talk about legal work permits, labour rights, health and education issues at a 3-day seminar.

According to Ma Po Po, Assistant Secretary of Grassroots Human Rights Education (GHRE), "The Thai economy will find it difficult to exist without Burmese migrant workers. It is difficult to stop Burmese migrants from entering Thailand. Social difficulties and a weak economy force Burmese people to migrate to neighbouring Thailand. There is a thin border between Thailand and Burma and therefore it is difficult to control refugees."

"Due to the bad economic situation that Thailand is facing, the Thai government is concerned about whether Thai labourers will find jobs to sustain themselves. Therefore the government has drawn up this policy, planning to arrest migrant workers," Ma Po Po added.

Currently, there seems to be a very high unemployment rate in Thailand, given the global economic crisis. Possibly this has led to the policy of arresting migrants.

During the meeting, the representatives will analyze the work they had done to help migrants successfully in the past. It will also be brought to their notice that regional working groups could not effectively report their performances.

Although the Thai government reported that there were over 530,000 legal workers from neighbouring countries working in Thailand, labour helping groups predicted that there were still a million migrants working in Thailand.