1st draft for persuasive essay

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Torntanat (Jump) Cheng November 25, 2010 TSEA. P.3 Migrant Workers of Thailand "While the situation may be getting bad here in Thailand, the situation is worse in Burma" (Deng) In 1948, after the end of World War II, the British colony left the country of Burma, thus returning Burma its independence. The Burmese came upon the decision of having their military govern the country. Due to this, the poor in Burma now live harsh lives, while the rich live in paradise. The poor of Burma are forced to work for public projects that the government has set. Depending on their status, some receive salaries while others are treated as slaves, working for nothing. This makes the Burmese people believe that Thailand is a better place than Burma. Thailand is a place with higher job opportunities and a place where they can make money to support their family. The Thai community has “hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrant workers [that] are employed in various sectors of Thai industry, including fisheries, manufacturing, domestic and construction work, hotels and restaurants, and agriculture. As Thailand has become more prosperous, fewer Thai people are willing to work in jobs which are commonly known as dirty, dangerous, and demeaning” (Thailand). This is what opens up

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Page 1: 1st draft for persuasive essay

Torntanat (Jump) Cheng

November 25, 2010

TSEA. P.3

Migrant Workers of Thailand

"While the situation may be getting bad here in Thailand, the situation is worse

in Burma" (Deng)

In 1948, after the end of World War II, the British colony left the country of

Burma, thus returning Burma its independence. The Burmese came upon the

decision of having their military govern the country. Due to this, the poor in Burma

now live harsh lives, while the rich live in paradise. The poor of Burma are forced to

work for public projects that the government has set. Depending on their status,

some receive salaries while others are treated as slaves, working for nothing. This

makes the Burmese people believe that Thailand is a better place than Burma.

Thailand is a place with higher job opportunities and a place where they can make

money to support their family. The Thai community has “hundreds of thousands of

Burmese migrant workers [that] are employed in various sectors of Thai industry,

including fisheries, manufacturing, domestic and construction work, hotels and

restaurants, and agriculture. As Thailand has become more prosperous, fewer Thai

people are willing to work in jobs which are commonly known as dirty, dangerous,

and demeaning” (Thailand). This is what opens up opportunities for Burmese

migrant workers to find jobs, which is one of the main reasons why the Burmese

people migrate to Thailand. Burmese migrant workers make up approximately 80%

of migrant workers in Thailand, these workers choose to do job’s the Thai’s don’t

want and they are people who help the economy of Thailand. Even though life in

Thailand may open up opportunities for jobs and better working conditions that

cannot be found in Burma, Burmese migrant workers working in Thailand face

abusive treatment. The Thai government needs to put more effort into protecting

their rights. Thai government needs to put more effort to protect their rights.

In Thailand, the government and organizations that support the Burmese

Migrant Workers are making an effort to change in order to bring equality to the

Page 2: 1st draft for persuasive essay

people living in Thailand. There has been complaints about the inequality of the

treatment of the Burmese people, which has been consulted within the Thai

government. The Thai government is setting out labor standards in order to prevent

the inequality there is in the society. This is done by granting working permits in an

official ceremony marking the start of a fresh campaign to stop illegal immigrants

from entering Thailand. (Dennis). In March 1992 the Thai cabinet passed the first of

a successive number of resolutions, which have allowed migrants to pay fees and

apply for work. The permit allows them to work legally in Thailand. When the work

permit is in the possession of migrant workers, they are protected under the 1997

Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand and covered by most of the provisions in

the Labor Protection Act of 1998 (Pi Chai). The United Nations Declaration on

Human Rights bans arbitrary arrest and discrimination before the law. It also makes

having a clean and adequate standard of living a basic Human Right. By doing this,

the government is reducing the risk of abusive treatment of Burmese migrant

workers. The work permit also gives migrants access to the 30-baht health scheme,

where each visit to a doctor costs only 30 baht plus the cost of medicine (Dennis).

Another act of support done by the Thai government is allowing children to go to

public schools in different provinces. The Thai government promotes education for

migrant children in Thailand, because they believe that by providing education and

increasing their knowledge we can strengthen self-reliance among migrant

communities and help lessen poverty (BMWEC). By getting working permits,

migrant workers are able to access many benefits in Thai society which have

enhanced their lives. However, the government has still failed to protect the rights

of the Burmese migrant workers.

Even with the work permits, the Burmese migrant workers are not given

enough support from the government to help improve their lives. The working

permits are supposed to protect the Burmese migrant workers from arbitrary arrest

and discrimination but reports have come in that the Burmese people's rights are

not being protected. There are a few flaws in the working permit. The two main

flaws are that in order to get a working permit, you need “to pay a fee of 3000 baht,”

which not many can afford (Thailand). If the migrant workers do not have working

Page 3: 1st draft for persuasive essay

permits, they are working as illegal immigrants, and this may lead to arbitrary

arrest or even deportation, but in some cases the migrant workers go through abuse

and harassment within the work place (Dennis). Also, not having a working permit

may restrict the Burmese migrants from working due to some work places, which

do not allow illegal immigrants to work. Without jobs, the Burmese migrant workers

are unable to work and if they don’t work they don’t have the money for working

permits. Due to these reasons, the working permits that the government has to offer

are far too complicated. Even though the Burmese migrant workers are allowed

access to the 30 baht health scheme, there have been complaints that the medical

care they are receiving from the hospitals is of low quality. Some of these workers

feel that “[they] are being terribly treated and discriminated in the hospital by the

nurses and doctors” (Thailand). In terms of education, the government only accepts

legal immigrants with working permits. Some Burmese people cannot send their

children off to school because they do not have permits in Thailand and they are

afraid of forced deportation of their children. The Thai government needs to look at

these factors and make a change in order to help and support the lives of the

Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.

Due to the fact that Thailand is a better country than Burma, the Burmese

migrant workers believe that living in Thailand is better than living in Burma. The

Burmese people in Burma are forced into labor by the Myanmar government

without any pay. Unlike Burma, in Thailand, the Burmese migrant workers are

allowed to seek for more of a variety of jobs than in Burma and they get a salary at

the end of the day (Dennis). In Thailand, the Burmese don’t have to fear the military

raiding their houses and forcing them to work in factories or such. Because the

government is controlled by the military, the military shows no sympathy towards

the Burmese migrant workers and makes their lives harsh. Since the Thai

government is a constitutional monarchy, it is less likely to be corrupted than

Burma; also, the citizens own the companies not the military. This reduces the

likeliness of force labor and harassment within the work place. Not only is there fear

at the work place, even in the houses of the Burmese citizens in Burma, there is fear

24 hours. The Ethnic minority people living in civil war zones in Burma often have

Page 4: 1st draft for persuasive essay

no choice about emigrating, as they are forced to flee their homes to avoid brutal

campaigns of violence against them by the Burmese military. Due to this reason, the

Burmese like the country of Thailand better.

Even with the work permits, the Burmese migrant workers are not being

treated the same as Thai workers. Burmese and Thasi work in the same industry yet

the Burmese workers get paid significantly less than the Thai people. Research has

shown that the minimum wage for Tak Province under Thai Labor Law is 135 baht

per day; however Burmese migrant workers on average make 50 to 70 baht per day

and some workers have wages as low as 30 Baht per day (Law Analysis…). Even

with less pay than an ordinary Thai worker, the Burmese migrant workers are

forced to work for a longer period of time for the same amount of money that Thais

would recieve for working normal hours. This forced overtime, which is often

unpaid, bares no differences from the SPDC’s of forced labor within both Burma and

in Thailand. Furthermore in violation of the 1998 LPA Burmese workers are forced

to work 7 days per week and not given paid sick days (Law Analysis…). Due to this

kind of treatment, the Burmese migrant workers have wanted to quit but some are

unable to because the company holds their permits captive, restricting them from

leaving the company. This causes them to stay in the company and receive unfair

treatment in the work place. Not only are they treated unequally in terms of getting

paid, they do not receive the health benefits the company is supposed to give to

their workers such as insurance for when an injury or illness happens to the

workers. This is all because they are lacking the heath care from the industries

causing some to become sick and they don’t have the insurance to take care of

themselves (Law Analysis…). This proves that the working permits is not enough to

help the Burmese workers, but the government needs to step up and look into the

complaints they have received by the migrant workers on their unequal treatment

at the work place by their employees and bosses.

The people in Thailand severely abuse the human rights of the Burmese

workers resulting in unfair treatment in the society. Not only are the citizens of

Thailand abusing the rights of the migrant workers, the police are doing the same

too. Amnesty International was told that the police stopped a 12- year old child

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locally in May 2004 and when she was unable to produce a registration card, the

police threatened to arrest her unless her father paid 1000 baht as a bribe. This

police behavior is typical in migrant areas in Thailand, although migrants were often

able to bargain with the police to get a reduction in the bribe (Thailand). Also,

Burmese woman at the work place often do not receive reproductive health care

and so are particularly vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies and sexually

transmitted disease from sexual harassment at the workplace (Thailand). The last

act of abuse is deportation, which has happened at a garment factory in Mae Sot

when the Burmese Migrant workers complained for their rights. The workers were

arrested and deported back to Burma as a punishment. Some received some

physical abuse such as beatings causing severe damage on their body leading to

death. When the migrant workers are deported they are transferred in vans meant

to fit 8 people and they manage to fit a minimum of 30 people into the van. This lead

to many deaths caused by suffocation in tight space and trampling as they exit the

van. This kind of treatment is unacceptable and should be taken care of by the Thai

government.

Life in Thailand for BMW may be better than life in Burma, but the Thai

government must put more effort to protect the rights of these people. The country

of Thailand is a more suitable country for the Migrant workers because they do not

face the harsh treatments that they would in their home country. But even though

Thailand is a more suitable country, efforts by the government need to me made to

enhance the rights of the Burmese migrant workers in order to bring equality

among the Thai and Burmese workers.