From: tun@quark.SFSU.EDU (Coban Tun)
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Subject: Illegal Burmese workers in Thailand
Date: 25 Jan 93 16:22:11 GMT
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01/23 2316  THAILAND - MORE ON ILLEGAL BURMESE WORKERS
 
(JAN. 22) PAC RIM INTELLIGENCE REPORT - How much does the southern province of
Ranong depend on illegal immigrants from Burma? This much:  "About 100 percent
of our unskilled workforce are Burmese," according to Deputy Ranong Governor
Niwet Somsakun.
   "The local economy will go under if no action is taken to allow entrepreneurs
to (legally) tap unskilled labour from Burma." said Somkiat Sattajit, president
of the provincial chamber of commerce in a letter addressed to the Interior
Ministry last year.
   There is so far no response from the government on what to do with the
problem of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants and their employers can be
prosecuted under the immigration law, that is, theoretically.
   Burmese illegalsthe number of whom is anybody's guess. ranging from the
incredibly low official estimate of 12.000 to 100,000 as calculated by certain
alarmists toil away in food processing plants, at construction sites, aboard
fishing trawlers and in private households.
   Burmese immigrants roam the streets freely and in conspicuously large numbers
day and night. Immigration Division officials, labour officials and police turn
a blind eye on them, the locals are busy making money selling them food and
consumer goods. (passage omitted)
   Everyone seems to be happy. Entrepreneurs cut up to 50 per cent in production
costs, Burmese immigrants receive very good money compared to what they would
get back home plus the chance to enjoy the luxuries of Ranong's well-stocked
markets.
   The Burmese workers provide cheap labour for menial and unpleasant jobs that
the locals consider beneath them and their spending power contributes to the
boom in local retail businesses.
   The Ranong economy has come a long way from the brink of collapse in mid-1991
when provincial authorities, under instruction from the Interior Ministry,
cracked down on illegal Burmese, pushing them back across the border by the
tens of thousands.
   The crackdown on illegal immigrants wreaked havoc on the industries and
businesses. The provincial chamber of commerce says virtually all industrial
plants had to be shut down.
   "The usually bustling market of Ranong became a ghost town overnight,"
recalls Sai Inthawa, who sells cheap ready-to-wear clothes near the municipal
market.
   Deputy Ranong Governor Niwet Somsakun says Burmese labour has been employed
by entrepreneurs in Ranong since the beginning of the mining industry decades
ago. The deputy governor, an acting governor, acknowledges that the illegal
Burmese immigrants could contribute to such problems as a rising crime rate
and longterm problems of social disorder and racial tension.
   "But we have to strike a balance between the security concerns and the
prosperity of our people," Niwet says. The deputy governor says he believes
the advantages of keeping Burmese workers outweigh any threat to national
security.
   He points out that such a threat could be minimized if the government drew
up a clear-cut guideline on how to regulate the inflow of Burmese workers in a
way that is sensitive to the local labour market.
   The Ranong Joint Public-Private Committee, the joint policy-making body
comprising top provincial officials and leading businessmen, has proposed that
the Interior Ministry legalize the use of Burmese workers "until Thai workers
can be found to replace them".
   Which is unlikely in the near future. According to provincial statistics,
Ranong, which is the province with the smallest population, about 120,000
residents, has a workforce of less than 10 percent of its total residents.
   Among residents in the active workforce, most of them work for the
government and as office workers with private companies. The rest are either
self-employed, too young, the elderly or students.
   Local people are unwilling to take jobs that are physically demanding or
unpleasant like construction, fishing and physical labour. (passage omitted)
   Seasonal workers from the Northeast, which used to make up a substantial
proportion of the local workforce in the past, are too few in number and would
not accept the low pay. Most of them have graduated to skilled and higher paid
jobs or left for the Middle East and other overseas labour markets like
Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia where they are better paid.
   Very few Thais work on fishing boats these days because of the perceived
greater risks involved. Workers from the Northeast have also shied away from
working on fishing trawlers since Typhoon Gay hit the southern provinces in
1989.
   Hundreds of fishermen, many of them northeastern Thais, were said to have
perished in the heavy seas during the storm.
   Most of the Burmese workers in Ranong are from Kaw Saung and Tavoy of
southern Burma which is separated from Ranong by a narrow strip of sea.
   "The Burmese workers who are escaping poverty at home to work here do not
pose a threat to national security. They are here to make some money," Niwet
says.
   "The motivations and patterns of the Burmese who come to work in Thailand
are the same as Thai workers going to work in the Middle East," he said.
   To mitigate the threat to national security, Niwet says the provincial
authorities require employers of Burmese workers to keep dossiers on the
workers to facilitate monitoring by law enforcement officials.
   The migrant workers are supposed to be confined inside factories and arrested
if they wander out of the factory compound, he said. The deputy governor says
there are an estimated 12,000 Burmese immigrants in Ranong, ail of them
registered with entrepreneurs.
   But most local residents interviewed by the Nation disputed the official
figure which they say is too low. (passage omitted)
   Although the Interior Ministry has relaxed control on illegal Burmese
immigrants, the immigration law could be invoked any time to crack down on the
aliens.
   The Ranong Joint Public-Private Committee, in trying to obtain an assurance
that the use of cheap Burmese labour will be tolerated if not legalized,
proposed in a letter to the Interior Ministry that:
   all Burmese workers be required to register with their employers and that
Burmese workers should be confined to the compound of their workplaces to make
sure they do not cause trouble and commit crimes.
   -employers reduce the number of Burmese workers once Thai workers can be
found to replace them.
   the authorities impose an income tax on the Burmese workers and set up
providence funds for them as well as other welfare benefits.
   -employers must have jobs available for Thai workers at all times.
   -employers must keep dossiers on their Burmese workers and share the
information with law enforcement officials and provincial authorities to allow
them to monitor the Burmese workers on regular basis. (passage omitted)
   From THE NATION in English
   Date 19 January 1993