Driven out by economic hardship, as many as 300,000 migrant workers have fled Myanmar and come to Thailand’s central Samut Sakhon province in search of what they believe to be a ‘better’ life. Thai News Agency’s news crew went there to find out how these migrant workers are coping.

At first these men would only talk to us on the condition they remain anonymous and appear on camera. But as we talked further, and explained our goodwill and mission to make their situations known and perhaps improve it, the shyness and reluctance gradually dissipated; they eventually agreed to be filmed.

Their message is that they are not as happy as they first thought they would be after migrating from Myanmar. For them, living here is a matter of survival, of just getting by day in, day out.

“I get only 5,000 baht a month. No, it’s not enough.” a Myamnar migrant worker said.

Another one said “It’s not enough, but we have to stay on. Back in Burma we got only 2,000 to 3,000 kyats or 60 to 70 Thai baht, which is impossible to live on. Yes, I am married, but having a child is impossible and proves so irrelevant in this sort of life. We don’t have any savings and everything is too expensive.”

This is little Myanmar—a community housing Myanmar migrant workers who work in the shrimp industry. These people propel the economy of Samut Sakhon.

Run-down, dirty and poorly ventilated, the community houses as many as 3,200 migrants. Unimaginable for some, but true for these people, each room is packed with at least ten people when bed time arrives.

Far from home and their loved ones, amid strangers, and living hard lives, these migrant workers complained they were not allowed to indulge themselves in a little nostalgia, remembering what it was like to be home again. They are barred from celebrating their National Day here.

“This is Thailand and it will be very inappropriate, in terms of international relations. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself is very sensitive about this,” said Kreeta Sopchoak, Head of Samut Sakhon Labour Office

It’s late afternoon; the evening is approaching, but the workday for these migrants has just begun.
Starting at midnight, their job is to flock to the shrimp chill trucks, unload the contents and sell what we later enjoy on our dinner table without us quite knowing what it takes before we do so. -- TNA