This Burmese migrant worker, face caked with traditional "thanaka" powder, lives in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burma border. She and nearly 300 other workers were recently fired from a Thai garment factory, which blamed the layoffs on the global economic downturn. (Pailin Wedel/GlobalPost)

Forced to cut corners, bosses prey on Burmese migrants

Tracing the crash from American hipsters' closets to the factory floor in Thailand.

By Patrick Winn - GlobalPost
Published: April 11, 2009 07:24 ET
Updated: April 11, 2009 14:21 ET

MAE SOT, Thailand — As Wall Street’s crash continues to reverberate, shock waves are unsettling places that most Americans couldn’t find on a map.

Add to that list the raucous Thai-Burma border, lined with factories producing goods for the western world.

Droves of Burmese migrants pour into western Thailand illegally each day across the narrow Moei River — often on inner tubes. They come seeking hard labor, working for less than Thailand’s $4.50-per-day minimum wage. Many live right in their bosses’ factories or on their fields, scrimping to send cash to families back home.

As American spending plummets, so have earnings for the Thai garment factories, rubber producers and other export businesses. Industrial bosses, suddenly forced to cut corners, are increasingly preying on their most vulnerable workers: Burmese migrants.

Now, watchdog groups and economists say many Thai bosses, desperate to save their dying businesses, are pushing these migrants even deeper into the margins.

“In terms of abuse … it’s been happening for years. Now it’s intensified,” said Anna Malindog, an activist with the People’s Partner for Development and Democracy in Mae Sot, Thailand. “Factory workers are pressured ... to make sure they make a profit and not lose their business.”

Many workers are fired without receiving their last two weeks’ pay. Others are worked seven days a week, for 16 hours a day or longer, under threat of losing their jobs. Some are hit with pay cuts to their already illegally low salaries.

Nay Thway, a 21-year-old migrant from Burma, spent months stitching together Asics shoes and items for Ben Sherman, a quasi-hipster clothing brand. He and hundreds of others would work 16 hours a day for about $3.60, then go home into crowded hostel-style rooms crammed with up to 14 other workers.

They were happy to have the work, he said. But in February, Thway and nearly 300 others in the Mae Sot garment factory were fired — many without their past two weeks’ pay. A note posted on the factory gate blamed the layoffs on poor productivity and the economic crisis.

Comments:

No Comments.

Login or Register to post comments

Recent on Thailand :

Silicon Sweatshops: A promising model

Jonathan Adams and Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 18, 2009 06:54 ET

There's no easy way to police supply chains in Asia. But one US high-tech firm and its Taiwan supplier are taking a creative approach that might just work.

Special report: Silicon Sweatshops

Jonathan Adams and Kathleen E. McLaughlin - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 15:05 ET

Despite strict "codes of conduct," labor rights violations are the norm at factories making the world's favorite high-tech gadgets.

What do you think about Silicon Sweatshops?

News Desk - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 15:04 ET

Are high-tech supply chains in Asia good business or exploitation? You decide.

Silicon Sweatshops: Shattered dreams

Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:24 ET

Migrant workers making gadgets at Taiwan's high-tech parks sign deals that make them modern-day indentured servants.

Silicon Sweatshops: The China connection

Kathleen E. McLaughlin and Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:22 ET

For migrant workers, an electronics factory job can be a ticket into China's booming middle class. But for many, it turns into a nightmare of poor working conditions and indifferent bosses.

Silicon Sweatshops: Disposable workforce

Jonathan Adams - China and its neighbors - November 17, 2009 07:22 ET

Laid-off Taiwanese workers accuse their firm of violating industry codes even when times were good.

Gay sex on film? No problem. Baring political rifts, problem.

Patrick Winn - Thailand - November 8, 2009 11:02 ET

Live and let live in Thailand. Except when one gay man is Buddhist, and the other is Muslim.

Tweeting from Fugitiveland

Patrick Winn - Thailand - November 2, 2009 06:35 ET

Thailand's ex-premier is on the run. And he wants the Twitterati to know about it.

Child sex boom fueled by poverty

Deena Guzder - Thailand - October 29, 2009 11:24 ET

It's just another dark day in Thailand.

Fake Viagra, and more, in Bangkok

Patrick Winn - Thailand - October 23, 2009 08:54 ET

Pharmo-piracy sweeps Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. It's a deadly problem.

A World of Trouble: Is the nightmare over?

Thomas Mucha - Commerce - October 14, 2009 13:35 ET

With signs of economic recovery finally emerging, here's where things stand in 20 countries around the world.

On Location: Bangkok — Heal Thailand with love

Patrick Winn and Pailin Wedel - Thailand - October 14, 2009 11:20 ET

Why this face frightens the average Thai

Patrick Winn - Thailand - October 10, 2009 09:05 ET

Thais have a fear of illegal immigrants that parallels that of Americans. The UN wants to change that.

Thailand's country music megastar

Patrick Winn - Thailand - September 22, 2009 08:58 ET

Paper airplane, or paper tiger?

Patrick Winn - Thailand - September 12, 2009 07:28 ET

Meet Mong Thongdee, a 12-year-old "security threat" in Thailand.

News analysis: Malaysian model drinks beer, asks to be caned

Thomas Mucha - Commerce - August 24, 2009 06:25 ET

The wacky story of the week comes from, where else, Asia?

The great elephant exodus

Patrick Winn - Thailand - August 15, 2009 13:53 ET

Video: Bangkok's governor promises an elephant-free city by next summer. Fat chance?

Meet the economic gangsters

Mark Scheffler - Commerce - August 12, 2009 09:03 ET

Economic gangsters come in all shapes and sizes — they're Asian dictators and Somali pirates.

Doing business in Thailand? Please ignore the burning bus.

Patrick Winn - Thailand - August 7, 2009 07:23 ET

Thailand is more competitive than India or South Korea. Will anyone notice through the haze of protests?