As Burma opens up, migrant workers dream of home

Migrants working in Thailand say democratic changes in Burma could enable them to return.

By Somchai Huasaikul and Samila Nararanode for Khabar Southeast Asia in Hat Yai

April 30, 2012

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Like many among the ethnic Mon community in the southern Thai province of Phuket, Aur Yee and his wife Khin Myowin are excited about changes taking place in Burma and are hoping to go back.

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  Phuket resident Khin Myowin, an ethnic Mon, with her daughter Karn (left) and a young cousin. Mons are easily identified by the swirls of beige powder they apply to their faces. As Burma's government takes some positive steps, including holding elections, towards re-establishing democracy, many Burmese migrant workers are considering a return to their homeland. [Samila Nararanod/Khabar]
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  Burmese worker “Yao” said he expects 70% of workers from Burma to leave Phuket. But some of the mostly ethnic Mons work in Thailand illegally and the Burmese government does not recognise all residents as citizens, leaving many migrant workers nationless. [Somchai Huasaikul/Khabar]

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"We're definitely going home," said Khin, 31."We are preparing ourselves and trying to save up enough money to open our own business there. I'm very confident that Aung San Suu Kyi will help us now that a real democracy is being established."

Khin and her husband have lived in Phuket for six years and their three-year-old daughter travels with them to the various worksites where they are sent by their Thai employer. Aur, 38, was doing construction work at a home in a recently completed residential estate in Phuket when Khabar Southeast Asia spoke to the couple.

In a sudden transformation that caught many in the global community by surprise, Burma's junta-sanctioned civilian rulers have taken bold steps to re-establish democracy. The changes raise hope that Burma will be able to emerge from its longtime international isolation and boost its stagnant economy.

For migrants who have travelled to Thailand for a chance at making a livelihood, the news could mean long-cherished hopes will come true.

Like many Burmese, 30-year-old Yao has no last name. He came to Thailand ten years ago and has since been employed in construction. A legally registered worker, his paperwork is taken care of by those who hired him.

"About 70%" of workers from Burma currently working in Phuket are now planning to leave," he told Khabar.

Yao himself is looking forward to going back and seeing his family in Rangoon, but said it would take him until October to save up the funds for the journey. For Thai employers, recent developments are less of a cause for celebration. Some fear a mass exodus of migrant workers could hurt the local economy--especially a real estate market that has been booming for decades.

"It is quite certain that some of the Burmese, but not all, are leaving and going back to their country at the moment," Tanan Tanpaibun, a prominent Phuket-based businessman and head of the Phuket Real Estate Association, told Khabar."They are getting jobs at places like Dawei."

He was referring to the port city where the Burmese government is building its first special economic zone and industrial estate.

"Also, I think the situation in Burma is quite stable now," Tanan said. "They have opened up the country, so I think there will be more going back.

"All of the contractors are complaining about problems with the Burmese workers now, because there are fewer and fewer of them. Those that remain jump from site to site for wage increases of as little as 10 baht (32 cents) a day, they tell me."

Large Bangkok-based development companies with projects in Phuket tend to hire contractors in the capital Bangkok, where many workers are Thai. These companies' operations in Phuket probably won't be too badly affected by any exodus of Burmese workers. But local contractors who do the bulk of the building projects in Phuket rely very heavily on them. They could be very badly affected if a mass migration takes place, he said.

Rough conditions

The sight of Phuket workers, mostly ethnic Mons, packed into the back of lorries and dump trucks, at times during torrential downpours, is so common that most residents take little note of it. The workers mostly live in camps at construction sites, hastily thrown together from wood and corrugated zinc panels.

A Thai senate panel that met on the island a few years ago said there could be as many as 200,000 Burmese workers on Phuket alone. About 660,000 Thais live and work on Phuket according to Ministry of Interior estimates.

It is estimated some two million people from Burma work in Thailand, most illegally.

Some hold work papers under a system set up by the Thai government to allow low-wage workers from three neighbouring states to work in Thailand, but most do not.

A system set up by the Thai and Burma governments to issue temporary passports and work visas to migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos is widely regarded as a failure. It is expensive, time consuming and requires workers to verify their nationalities back in their own countries.

However, the Burma government does not recognise all people living in its territory as citizens, making verification impossible. Many Burmese citizens fear that releasing the required information could put families back home in jeopardy or cause other problems.

In Phuket, 99% of workers in the programme are either Burmese or people from lands controlled by the government of Burma, according to the Phuket Employment Office. Most do back-breaking jobs in the construction, rubber tapping and fishing industries that Thais do not want.

Others find work in the huge Phuket tourism industry, which despite the number of migrant workers, still has a large labour shortage.

Many Burmese workers arrive in Thailand by crossing at the border province of Ranong, often with the help of human traffickers

In April 2008, 101 Burmese workers were packed into the refrigerator compartment of a seafood truck en route from the Ranong border to Phuket. Fifty-four died of suffocation, including an 8-year-old girl.

One company that helps workers from Burma get work permits and find job is the Noom Broker company.

Noom Broker representative Panida Rodnikorn said in addition to the construction industry, scores of other low-wage positions are held by Burmese workers in Phuket hotels, schools, hospitals, shops and other service-industry businesses.

It is too early to say what effect the changes in Burma will have on the Phuket labour market, Panida said.

This view is shared by Thitinan Pongsudhirak, who directs Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.

"It depends on how things shape up in Burma. There will be a lot of business there, of course, but it will take time. In the medium term, I don't rule out they will go back and look for work there. But it is all about jobs, where the jobs are and where the pay is. If they can have some of that in Burma, then yes – we will see some return, but don’t forget that we are looking at a more integrated labour market," he said.

"Mons can come and go. They'll make their calculations based on where the jobs are. In ethnic minority areas, it is still not so easy. Many ceasefire agreements are quite tentative, and they have to start [economic production] from scratch," Thitinan said.

"So give it six months and see what happens. I wouldn't be surprised to see many of them coming back here."

After Nearly a Quarter Century of Isolation, Burma’s Suu Kyi Begins Her Global Tour

By HANNAH BEECH |

KHIN MAUNG WIN / AP

Aung San Suu Kyi, center, receives flowers from supporters as she arrives at Yangon International Airport before her departure for Bangkok on May 29, 2012, in Yangon, Myanmar.

Airport security crowded the fast-track immigration section at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on the evening of May 29. Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had arrived home shortly before from a trip to Australia. But the throngs of excited onlookers were not there to greet Thailand’s first female P.M., who was on her way back from meeting Australia’s own first female P.M., Julia Gillard. Instead, they had gathered after word trickled out that another lady leader had touched down in Bangkok. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s iconic opposition leader, was making her first trip overseas in 24 years. Under house arrest for much of that time at the behest of the country’s then-ruling generals, Suu Kyi had traded a globe-trotting youth—spent in India, England, the U.S., Bhutan and Japan—for the moldering confines of her family’s lakeside villa in Burma’s largest city, Rangoon.

Now, she was negotiating the fluorescent-lit splendor of Bangkok’s gleaming airport. Clutching a new red passport that had been issued by the quasi-civilian government that took over the country officially known as Myanmar last year, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate smiled briefly as she received her first entry stamp in nearly a quarter century. Airport porters snapped photos with their cellphones, while even harried-looking businessmen from a flight from Hong Kong seemed charmed. “That Burmese lady is here,” one said into his iPhone, excitedly. “You know, what’s her name.”

Possessed of a finely attuned wit, Suu Kyi has joked that she is known overseas as “the woman with the unpronounceable name.” That may be. But Suu Kyi (her full name is pronounced “Ahng Sahn Sue Chee”) is also the world’s most famous female democracy activist. She is in Bangkok to attend the World Economic Forum on East Asia, where she will appear on a panel about Asian women on Friday. After the military regime that had ruled Burma for nearly half a century began devolving power to a semi-civilian government, Suu Kyi made the unprecedented step of involving her political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), in April by-elections. The last time the NLD participated in electoral politics back in 1990, it won by a landslide. But the junta ignored the results. This time around, the NLD won 43 of 45 seats and the new hybrid military-civilian government honored the results. Suu Kyi is now a member of the Burmese parliament.

It’s a sea change for a woman who was cloistered for so long. On the campaign trail, Suu Kyi proved a tireless, charismatic politician, always taking care to smile and wave at the thousands over supporters who gathered wherever she went. But there is also a natural reserve to the 66-year-old, an almost royal remove perhaps borne of her family background. The daughter of Burma’s independence hero Aung San, Suu Kyi was only two when her father was assassinated by political rivals. She grew up largely overseas, as her mother served as the fledgling nation’s ambassador to India. Even Suu Kyi’s path to politics was unexpected. Back in Burma to take care of her ailing mother, she happened to be there when mass democracy protests and an ensuing brutal crackdown convulsed Rangoon in 1988. She had not left home since then, until her May 29 arrival in Bangkok. When her English husband was stricken by cancer in Oxford in 1999, she made the heart-wrenching choice not to visit him at his deathbed, lest Burma’s junta refuse to let her return home.

Now that she has her passport and the confidence that she can travel freely, Suu Kyi has a busy summer of globe-trotting ahead of her. On her birthday on June 17, she will be in England, where one of her two sons lives. (Suu Kyi studied at Oxford and her husband, an academic of Himalayan culture, is buried there.) She will address the International Labor Organization in Switzerland. A trip to Norway to receive her 1991 Peace Prize is also planned.

Most immediately this week, Suu Kyi is scheduled to visit a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand. Tens of thousands of Burmese, particularly members of the country’s ethnic minorities, have flooded neighboring Thailand over the decades to escape government repression and civil war. Other Burmese are economic refugees who occupy some of the lowest rungs of the social ladder in Thailand, working construction or seafood-processing jobs that make them prone to abuse because of their questionable immigration status. Suu Kyi is expected to meet with Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, as well.

Suu Kyi’s trips—whether to a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand or, as rumored, to a Dublin stage shared with U2 rocker and philanthropist Bono—will undoubtedly garner intense global interest. Media scrums will follow her everywhere. Even at the Bangkok airport, Suu Kyi looked exhausted, though elegant, as she gamely grinned for the impromptu crowds of fans. (I happened to be on another flight coming into Bangkok at the same time.) For a woman who told me in Rangoon that she cherishes her time alone and who suffers from motion sickness, Suu Kyi’s re-entry into the world will be a shock. Bangkok is a particularly exuberant, traffic-choked metropolis compared to the city where she has lived for 24 years. As Suu Kyi exited the air-conditioned airport into the moist heat of the Thai capital, the flashes of hundreds of cameras erupted in a frenzied burst. A flock of Burmese yelled “Mother Suu.” She paused for a second, smiled and waved, then strode on.

29/5/2012

Window of opportunity is closing

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The massacre of more than 100 civilians in the village of Houla in Syria on Friday should be strongly condemned by all. The perpetrators of the atrocity are still unknown, but one thing is certain: the ceasefire situation has been very volatile since the Syrian government and the opposition agreed to halt the violence and start a credible process of political dialogue according to the six-point plan proposed by UN special envoy Kofi Annan.

On May 4, the spokesman for Annan said the Syrian peace process is on track. However, talks between the government and the opposition have not yet been launched and violent incidents in violation of the ceasefire agreement are increasing, with both the Syrian government and the opposition blaming the other for the violence. Many observers now worry that Annan's ceasefire plan might come to an untimely end.

There is no doubt that Annan's six-point peace proposal is the only way to achieve a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Annan's arduous diplomatic mediation for Syria opened a "window of opportunity for national reconciliation", so the Syrian government and the opposition must observe the ceasefire and show their political wisdom and courage by starting negotiations.

Of course, this will be a difficult process, because there are enormous obstacles to be overcome if the government and the opposition are to turn the vague principles of the six-point proposal into a practicable ceasefire agreement, and then into a specific political solution.

First, the purposes of the Syrian government and the opposition are fundamentally irreconcilable and their confrontation has become a do-or-die struggle. President Bashar al-Assad will never hand over power submissively. He is determined to remain in power and he still has the military strength. He will not tolerate the opposition unlimitedly, nor make a fundamental compromise.

The opposition has proved incapable of forcing Bashar to step down, but it too is refusing to compromise, even though it lacks powerful bargaining chips because of the huge difference in military strength.

Second, both the Syrian government and the opposition have adopted a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, the parties have to engage in the negotiations; on the other hand they are actively preparing for combat. Though the Syrian opposition groups accepted Annan's mediation program, they are not satisfied with the plan as they believe that the plan did not urge Bashar to step down.

The opposition is still seeking to overthrow Bashar and has repeatedly said that they will never give up. For this reason, the Syrian crisis is far from over.

Third, the basic conditions for conducting negotiations are not available. The opposition inside Syria have expressed their willingness to talk with the government without any preconditions, but opposition groups outside Syria have not responded in a similar vein. Also there is no acceptable leadership on behalf of the opposition to negotiate with the government. All in all, the prospects for negotiations do not look promising.

The government's bottom line is to remain in power and carry out reforms in the country. The opposition has rejected the reform program, and they want to follow the example of Libya's opposition and seize power.

Obviously, the time is not ripe for negotiations. Both sides lack the sincerity and trust necessary to begin negotiations. The government still has the initiative and advantage in future negotiations, while the opposition is fragmented both politically and militarily. As long as the opposition refuses to accept the government's arrangements, and refuses to cooperate with the government, there is little chance of negotiations being held.

Fourth, after being frustrated in overthrowing the Bashar government, the West and some Arab countries continue to support the opposition. They express their support for Annan's six-point plan, but have been supporting the opposition on the sly with non-military assistance. The West has not abandoned their intention of forcing Bashar to step down. On Apr 27, the United States threatened that if Syria failed to implement Annan's peace plan, it will again submit the Syrian issue to the UN Security Council. Britain said that if the government does not comply with the ceasefire agreement it will increase support for the opposition. The future of Syria is still fraught with dangers and uncertainties.

Therefore, there is little reason to be optimistic about an end to the violence in Syria. Annan's mediation is still faced with the possibility of failure.

Without a strong foreign military intervention, the opposition will not be able to overthrow Bashar's government as it does not have the strength. Meanwhile, violent clashes will continue threatening to further deteriorate the situation.

The author is a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(Source: China Daily)

Elizabeth II: Young queen who grew into a modern monarch

By Barry Neild, CNN

May 9, 2012 -- Updated 1325 GMT (2125 HKT)

Since the death of Diana, the queen's popularity has enjoyed a revival as she continues to preside over what appears to be a softer, more accessible modern royal family. Here, she attends her grandson, Harry's graduation from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, southern England in 2006.

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A more accessible royal family, 2006 - present

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Queen Elizabeth II will mark the diamond jubilee of her accession to the throne this year
• Born in 1926, the queen became monarch in 1952 on the death of her father, George VI
• Queen's reign hit low point in 1992 as the marriages of three of her children collapsed
• Monarch is known for her love of equestrian events and is a champion of modern technology

Editor's note: In 2012, the UK's Queen Elizabeth II became the second-longest serving British sovereign with a reign spanning 60 years. On June 4 - 6, the Queen marks her Diamond Jubilee year with a series of parties and pageants, and CNN will be there to follow the festivities. Leading up to the celebrations, we will put her reign in context with a series of articles, op-eds and interactives. 

London, England (CNN) -- The 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the British throne marks a major milestone in the remarkable life of a monarch who, though reluctantly thrust into the spotlight at a young age, has won almost universal praise for her steadfast dedication to duty.

Her long reign (second only to Queen Victoria's) has seen Britain transformed from a war-weary declining imperial power into its modern incarnation as a member state of the European Union that rarely looks to its monarch for leadership, but still holds her in high esteem.

In 1952, when Elizabeth and Philip were on an official trip to Kenya, news came of her father's death. She was now queen. 

And while it has witnessed its fair share of joy -- not least the recent marriage of the queen's grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton -- Elizabeth's rule has also weathered many storms, both public and personal, as the monarchy has tried to keep pace with changing times.

Elizabeth Alexander Mary was born in 1926, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. She did not become heiress presumptive to the throne until 1937 when her father was crowned King George VI after the scandalous abdication of his older brother -- events recently dramatized in the Oscar-winning film "The King's Speech."

As World War II erupted, Elizabeth was quietly groomed for statehood. While living out the blitz on London in nearby Windsor Castle, she was privately tutored in matters of constitution by Henry Marten, an eccentric yet respected teacher who reputedly kept a pet raven in his study.

She began making tentative steps to public life in 1940 when, aged 14, she made her first radio broadcast: a speech to children displaced by conflict. At 16 she was made an honorary colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a British army infantry regiment.

The Queen's unseen photos

Queen Elizabeth speaks to Parliament

Queen, Camilla and Catherine go shopping

Queen Elizabeth marks 60 years on throne

Wartime offered her certain freedoms beyond the constraints of royal life. In 1945 she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and spent four weeks getting her hands covered in oil and grease as she learned to drive and maintain military vehicles. When victory was declared in Europe, a uniformed Elizabeth mingled with jubilant crowds outside Buckingham Palace.

Queen Elizabeth celebrates 60 years on throne

Peacetime brought the return of Lieutenant Prince Philip of Greece, a handsome young naval officer who had, by all accounts, had won her heart when she was just 13. The pair married in Westminster Abbey in 1947. Their first son, Charles, was born just over a year later.

With her father's health in rapid decline, Elizabeth began accepting more official duties, taking his place at the annual Trooping the Color military parade in 1949. In 1952, when Elizabeth and Philip were on an official trip to Kenya, news came of her father's death. She was now queen.

The next decade saw the queen settle into her role. After her 1953 coronation, she embarked on numerous official trips, oversaw state openings of parliament, welcomed visiting leaders such as President Eisenhower, Charles de Gaulle and Nikita Khrushchev, and toured a coal mine.

In 1964, the queen became a mother for the fourth time as new son Edward joined Charles and fellow siblings Anne and Andrew. There was, however, barely any let up in her busy schedule.

By the arrival of her third decade on the throne, she was in her element. Prince Charles was embarking on a military career, Princess Anne, an acclaimed horsewoman, was married -- drawing huge crowds of well wishers.

Girls given equal rights to British throne under law changes

While indulging in her own equestrian pursuits, she continued to throw herself into public life, clocking up dozens of overseas trips and official visits around the UK -- one of which in 1976 saw her become one of the first people to send an email (she continues to champion new technology today).

Problems overshadowed the queen as she made an historic visit to meet Nelson Mandela in 1995... Criticism reached new heights in the wake of Diana's tragic death.

There were family problems in 1976 when her sister's marriage collapsed and constitutional problems with growing debate among Commonwealth countries about the role of the monarch, but these failed to dampen celebrations to mark the silver jubilee of her reign in 1977.

Another royal wedding followed in 1981 when Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at London's St Paul's cathedral. Millions of people around the world watched the ceremony on television, happily unaware it would usher in the most turbulent period yet of the queen's life.

The queen's 40th year on the throne, 1992, marked her lowest moment as three royal marriages fell apart. Princess Anne and Mark Philips divorced, Charles and Diana separated after claims of infidelities while Sarah Ferguson was photographed topless with an American financial manager.

To cap it all, a huge fire ripped through Windsor Castle causing major structural damage. In the wake of the blaze, a furore broke out when it was suggested that public money be used to fund the restoration.

"1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure," the queen said in a speech later that year. "In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis."

Kate has graduated as 'fully fledged' royal

These problems overshadowed the queen as she made an historic visit to meet Nelson Mandela in 1995, but criticism reached new heights in the wake of Diana's tragic death in 1997 when the royals were accused of being aloof and out of touch amid widespread outpourings of grief.

The queen's most recent decade as monarch has largely been one of celebration.

This marked a turning point. After days of silence, the queen returned to London, talked to mourners and admitted there were lessons to be learned from Diana's life. The gestures struck a chord with the public and criticism ebbed away.

After Diana, the queen's popularity rebounded as she presided over what appeared to be a softer, more accessible and thoroughly modern royal family. This was evident In 2005 when, to public approval, she assented to the previously unthinkable marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

The queen's most recent decade as monarch has largely been one of celebration. In 2006, she marked her 80th birthday with a series of festivities and goodwill messages from around the world.

She has witnessed both her grandsons graduate as military officers and, of course, she oversaw the marriage of Prince William and Catherine, the woman who -- when her husband eventually inherits the throne to become king -- will succeed her as Britain's next queen.

HIs majesty the king takes 50 steps without his cane

Samrit Jiamjarernporn
The Nation
May 24, 2012 1:00 am

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His Majesty the King is on his way to full recovery and was able to take 50 steps without needing his cane, Privy Council member Chalit Phupasuk revealed yesterday.

He added that His Majesty should be moving out of Siriraj Hospital soon.
Chalit was speaking while handing out gifts granted by Their Majesties the King and Queen to poor people in Lampang yesterday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her family are planning to present a historic field in Ayutthaya's Thung Makham Yong to His Majesty because it is at this plot where the King himself harvested a rice crop in 1996.
"We will present the 7-rai field to His Majesty," Yingluck said yesterday. "This historic field should be conserved."
She refused to elaborate, saying that details would be provided only after the plot was handed over to the much-beloved monarch. The plot is said to be worth about Bt20 million.
Her intention to present the land plot to the King comes just two days before the monarch is set to make another historic visit to Thung Makham Yong.
Accompanied by Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the much-revered King will make a personal visit to Thung Makham Yong tomorrow.
It will be his first trip out of Greater Bangkok in recent years. Since His Majesty was admitted to Siriraj Hospital for treatment in 2009, he has hardly left its compound.
Historic field
Thung Makham Yong is in tambon Ban Mai, Muang district, Ayutthaya province. The area is of much significance not only because His Majesty visited it in 1996 but because it is here that Queen Suriyothai of the Ayutthaya Period fought bravely against an invading army and sacrificed her life defending the Kingdom.
His Majesty has planned the visit to Makham Yong because he wishes to supervise one of his royally initiated projects there.
Their Majesties the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family are scheduled to leave Siriraj Hospital at 4.30pm, and are expected to arrive in Ayutthaya at around 5.20pm tomorrow.
Many agencies have planned grand performances for the royal members. The shows will include an elephant parade, a procession of boats, and more.
Locals in Ayutthaya are eagerly awaiting the King's visit.
waiting for a glimpse
Sommai Sakthanawat, 55, said he and all family members would close their food shop for a glimpse of His Majesty. "We are so glad that he is coming to our home town," he said. "We want to welcome him and chant 'Long Live the King'."
Somnuk Rattanapin, 78, said she planned to wait for His Majesty from the morning. His upcoming visit has brought her much delight.
"I have always wanted to see him again. I saw him once when I was a village scout," she said.
Lek Sripisut, a 65-year-old dessert vendor, said she was glad because the King's visit meant his health was improving.
"When he's ill, I am sad," she said.
Pree Chuankamon, 67, said he loved the King a lot and always followed news about him.
Thiraporn Lawansiri, 27, said her whole family was excited about His Majesty's upcoming visit.
"We are waiting for the day we can welcome him and express our wishes for his good health and a long and happy life," she said.

Anatomy of a Burmese workers’ strike in Thailand

 

On Friday, May 4,  2012, about 500 Burmese migrant workers employed at the SD Fashion/Idea Garment factory in Mae Sot, Tak Province, claimed victory in a struggle against their employer for increased wages and improved living and working conditions.  

The workers achieved a doubling of their wages as a result of a two-day wildcat strike they initiated on Wednesday 2 May.  This case is just one of a string of collective actions carried out by migrants in Songkla, Kanchanaburi and Tak provinces following the 1 April increase in Thailand’s minimum wage.

The following account provides some details on this action as a contribution towards developing greater understanding of the possibilities for workers’ self-organization under contemporary conditions of flexible labour. Recent scholarship on labour “flexibilization” has called attention to global transformations in employment regimes, which have given management greater flexibility in setting the terms of work while challenging earlier models of labour organizing.
  
Yet the fact that workplace struggles nonetheless persist amid such conditions suggests that much remains to be learned about the possibilities for organizing under contemporary labour regimes.

In the case of the SD Fashion/Idea Garment factory (locally known by its former name “Champion”), most of the day-rate workers had been earning 75 baht for a daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. shift.  From 9 pm onwards these workers received overtime pay at a rate of 7.5 baht an hour. As most factories in Mae Sot begin overtime pay at 6 pm, the three hours from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. were for the Champion workers as though unpaid forced overtime.  Furthermore, the wage of 75 baht per day was far below the legal minimum wage in Tak Province, which was increased from 162 to 226 baht per day on 1 April. Beyond the problems of wages and work time, the workers complained of grossly unhygienic sanitation facilities, a lack of water in the washrooms, and the fact that there was no door on the toilet. Not willing to endure this situation any longer, the workers began demanding increased wages and improved conditions on 8 April. Their employer, however, repeatedly asserted that he could not afford any increase. 

As their demands continued unmet some of these workers attended a local May Day rally in Mae Sot where they ran into colleagues from Royal Knitting, another Mae Sot-based garment factory. The Royal Knitting workers told them how a couple weeks prior they had won a wage increase to 155 baht per day through collective action at their factory.  

The Royal and Champion workers discussed common grievances and exchanged ideas about workplace struggles. Stimulated from the May Day rally and the discussion with the Royal Knitting factory workers, the Champion workers organized themselves that night to carry out a wildcat strike the next day, if their demands remained unmet. 

By 11:30 the next morning word reached workers throughout the factory that the employer was not going to make any concessions. Thus, as planned, the wildcat began with workers in the knitting department shutting off their lights and walking out. As workers in the other departments saw the signal, they too shut off their lights and walked out. At this point the workers’ chosen representatives approached the manager to issue the following demands, which had been collectively decided upon the previous day:

• An increase in the daily wage to at least 155 baht/day for the lowest paid workers
• A piece rate increase of 30%
• A fixed work time of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm for the daily wage
• Provision of water and an improvement in sanitation facilities
• An overtime wage rate of 30 baht per hour
• A 20 baht payment for their daily “time card” check

Rejecting these demands, the manager instead offered the workers a 15 baht per day increase and told them “If you want to work at this rate, work. If not, get out.” As the workers were not satisfied with this amount they contacted the Mae Sot branch of the Thai Labour Protection Office (LPO), which sent a lawyer on 3 May to meet with the factory manager.  

The workers, meanwhile, remained out on strike. Following this meeting, the LPO lawyer visited the workers and told them to send their representatives to the LPO on Friday, May 4th at 10:00 am for a negotiating meeting with an LPO staff member and the employer.

At 9:45 on Friday morning, 14 workers, along with staff from the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association and the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs (JACBA), met outside the Labour Protection Office.  

The workers discussed the recent events and went over plans for the negotiating meeting. The Yaung Chi Oo and JACBA staff offered the workers encouragement, information and suggestions. JACBA’s U Moe Kyo, for example, stated “When you’re in the negotiating room, if there aren’t enough chairs, don’t crouch down on your haunches. It’s better to stand. Don’t put yourself at a lower level than the employers.  You need to show that you are their equals. And make sure to spit out your betel nut before you go inside.”

Shortly before 10 a.m. we saw the general manager and two sub-managers enter the LPO office. The LPO interpreter then came out to invite seven worker representatives inside. The negotiating meeting lasted close to three hours. At one point, two staff from the local worker organizations and I were invited inside when negotiations got stuck over the amount of increase for the piece rate.  

The workers had demanded a 30% increase and the employer responded with an offer of 17.5%. The worker representatives were mostly on daily wages and therefore phoned to consult some of the piece-rate workers about the offer of 17.5%. The employer and LPO staffer, however, were pressing the representatives to hurry up.  

At this point, the Thai factory manager, who did not appear very content with the situation, turned to me and said in English, “I want to cut this short. These workers have been off work for two days already and I’ve lost 200,000 baht.” The worker representatives nonetheless took their time in order to ensure that the concerns of their piece-rate colleagues were fully included in any final agreement.

When negotiations finished at around 1:00 pm, both sides signed an agreement under the auspices the Labour Protection Office, according to which:

• The base daily wage will be increased to 155 baht per day (with wages of higher paid workers increasing commensurately)
• The piece rate will be increased by 20%
• The standard shift for the daily wage will be shortened to 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Management will address workers’ concerns about the lack of water and poor sanitation facilities
• No workers will be fired for taking part in this action

The overtime rate and “time check” payment are to be decided at a future negotiating session scheduled for June 1.

Although the new wage rate remains far below the official minimum wage (and even below the pre-1 April rate) the workers involved in this action were generally satisfied with the final agreement. At a meeting of workers following the Friday negotiations those involved in the action were exuberant about their victory.  

They were also pleased with their own capacity to act collectively to achieve their goals in the face of management intransigence.  I asked one worker who had taken a leading role in this action what he thought were the workers’ key strengths.  He replied: “Our solidarity, of course!” In addition, this worker pointed to the fact that his previous experience of workplace struggle at a different factory in Mae Sot had given him knowledge and confidence with which to engage in the present action.  

He also acknowledged his appreciation for the support he and his coworkers had received from local worker support organizations, especially technical information on Thai labour law. Sitting together after the event the workers chatted contentedly about their victory and, what is for many of them, a newly realized capacity for self-organization and collective action, which some told me they hoped to apply again in the event of future workplace conflicts.


Stephen Campbell is a Ph.D. student in the department of anthropology, University of Toronto, researching precarious labour and worker organizing among Burmese migrants in Thailand. This article originally appeared on the New Mandala website