Burmese migrant workers

  • Thailand NewsThai-Myanmar gates reopen after sudden closure

    Thai-Myanmar gates reopen after sudden closure

    The Burmese border town of Phayathonzu, straddling Thailand and Myanmar, was thrown into chaos when its gates were abruptly shut on August 16. The gates, crucial for the movement of goods and people, left locals in a lurch. However, on August 20, relief came as the gates were reopened, much to the delight of residents and traders, one Phayathonzu local…

  • Thailand News50 illegal Cambodian and Burmese immigrants arrested after brawl

    50 illegal Cambodian and Burmese immigrants arrested after brawl

    Police raided a condominium in Samut Prakan, uncovering a violent feud between Cambodian and Burmese immigrants. The raid, led by Police Major General Wichit Boonchinwutikul, Chief of Samut Prakan Provincial Police, saw over 50 officers descend on the Bang Pu area, resulting in the arrest of 50 illegal migrant workers. The crackdown was triggered by a brutal altercation on Monday…

  • Crime NewsTeen’s truckin’ troubles: Migrant worker smuggling ends in pickup predicament in central Thailand

    Teen’s truckin’ troubles: Migrant worker smuggling ends in pickup predicament in central Thailand

    A 19 year old man was apprehended for smuggling 13 illegal migrant workers in a pickup truck that he claimed to have borrowed from his father under the pretence of visiting his girlfriend. Phinwit Udomphon, an officer from the Ayutthaya Provincial Police, stated that efforts to curb the smuggling of illegal workers into Bangkok and its surrounding provinces continue unabated.…

  • Thailand NewsTeen’s high-risk hustle: 16 year old busted smuggling 14 Burmese migrant workers in stolen ride

    Teen’s high-risk hustle: 16 year old busted smuggling 14 Burmese migrant workers in stolen ride

    A 16 year old boy has been caught in Ayutthaya for smuggling 14 Burmese migrant workers in a stolen vehicle, in exchange for a fee of 15,000 baht (US$429). Highway Police yesterday noticed a suspicious grey Isuzu MU-X with Phitsanulok registration, which looked overloaded compared to regular vehicles. The teenage driver attempted to evade the police, who signalled for the…

  • Thailand NewsMigrant workers – even undocumented – can stay until 2025

    Migrant workers – even undocumented – can stay until 2025

    Migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam got a reprieve for the next few years as the Thai Cabinet extended their ability to stay in the country until early 2025. The extension of stay will be permitted for both documented and undocumented migrant workers and will lengthen the time they are allowed to stay until February 13, 2025. The…

  • World NewsFirst group of ‘official’ Burmese migrant workers enter Thailand to bolster labour market

    First group of ‘official’ Burmese migrant workers enter Thailand to bolster labour market

    Thailand’s PM and the Minister of Defence Prayut Chan-o-cha is asking all relevant departments to recruit migrant workers using the Memorandum of Understanding or MOU system. The PM has also directed the Ministry of Labour to “take care of each worker”, and ensure that Covid-19 prevention measures are adhered to. Today, the PM’s Spokesperson, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, told Thai media that…

  • Northern Thailand News24 Myanmar job seekers arrested in northern province for illegal entry

    24 Myanmar job seekers arrested in northern province for illegal entry

    Thailand’s border security remains tight to dissuade border crossers over Covid-19 outbreak fears. Yesterday, a total of 24 Myanmar nationals, including ethnic Shan people (or Tai Yai as they prefer), were arrested in the northern province of Phitsanulok for illegal entry. Following a tip, Thai immigration police and border authorities detected the 17 women and 7 men on their way…

  • Thailand NewsIllegal border crossing on the rise along with tourism reopening

    Illegal border crossing on the rise along with tourism reopening

    While Thailand is eager to see foreigners entering the country after Monday’s reopening, not all foreigners are as welcome as others. A crackdown on migrants crossing land borders illegally and entering the country without quarantine caught more than 3,000 people in this past week. A spokesperson for the Internal Security Operations Command correlated Thailand’s reopening to international tourism with the…

  • Crime NewsVan packed with 39 illegal burmese workers stopped in Phichit

    Van packed with 39 illegal burmese workers stopped in Phichit

    A tip-off led to police uncovering a van packed full of 39 illegal Burmese immigrants in the lower Northern province of Phichit. The van was stuffed tightly with 17 Burmese men and 22 Burmese women with one admitting that they had crossed the border illegally and were heading to Nakon Sawan to work at construction sites. The police in Phichit…

  • World News10 Burmese migrant workers arrested in Songkhla

    10 Burmese migrant workers arrested in Songkhla

    10 Burmese migrant workers were arrested this morning at a rubber plantation near the Malaysian border in the southern Thai province of Songkhla. Police say 7 migrant workers managed to evade capture. A combination of provincial and immigration police went to the plantation that is near the Dan Nok Village, opposite Malaysia’s Kedah State, in anticipation of a van full…

  • Thailand News14 Burmese migrant workers arrested for allegedly illegally crossing the border

    14 Burmese migrant workers arrested for allegedly illegally crossing the border

    14 Burmese migrant workers were arrested in western Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province this morning. The Bangkok Post says they were found hiding in the forest by army patrol and police. The group was mostly men, and none had travel documents on them. When the workers were questioned, they told officials that they had been walking on natural trails from Dawei, a…

  • World NewsNearly 40 border officials quarantined for testing after 9 migrant workers they arrested test positive for Covid

    Nearly 40 border officials quarantined for testing after 9 migrant workers they arrested test positive for Covid

    Nearly 40 officials in Songkhla, a southern Thai province, are quarantined for testing after 9 out of 14 illegal Burmese migrant workers, whom the officials arrested previously, tested positive for Covid. The migrant workers were arrested by immigration police and administrative officials at a border section near Ban Rai Tok, opposite the Kedah State of Malaysia, on Saturday. The workers…

  • Thailand NewsBangkok Covid-19 Update: 3 month old infected; market closes after vendor tests positive

    Bangkok Covid-19 Update: 3 month old infected; market closes after vendor tests positive

    A 3 month old baby in Bangkok tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday, the youngest case in the new wave of infections, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin says local health officials are investigating to determine how the baby was infected. A major wet market in Bangkok, Klong Toey Market, has closed for cleaning after a…

  • Covid-19 NewsHundreds recover from Covid-19, released from Samut Sakhon field hospital

    Hundreds recover from Covid-19, released from Samut Sakhon field hospital

    Nearly 300 Burmese migrants in Samut Sakhon have recovered from Covid-19 and have been released from a field hospital set up at a sports stadium while another 300 people are expected to be discharged from the field hospital today. The released migrants were sent back to the Central Shrimp Market in the Mahachai area fishing hub where they live and…

  • World NewsThai social media gets nasty as old animosities resurface over the Burmese migrants

    Thai social media gets nasty as old animosities resurface over the Burmese migrants

    A Covid-19 outbreak in Samut Sakhon, centred around a seafood market and the local fishing industry’s Burmese migrant population, has unbottled a new wave of anti-Burmese sentiment in Thai social media, never bubbling far beneath the surface. The revelations of an outbreak of some 1,000+ positive infections has opened a long-standing wound between the two countries, including straight out online…