• Burmese
Friday, July 11, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

60 Burmese Migrants Freed From Slave-Like Conditions in Thailand: Rights Group

Khin Oo Tha by Khin Oo Tha
May 14, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
60 Burmese Migrants Freed From Slave-Like Conditions in Thailand: Rights Group

Burmese migrant workers being rescued from prawn processing facility in Mahachai

4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Scores of workers from Burma were rescued on Tuesday from a shrimp processing facility in Thailand after being locked inside for up to three years, according to a migrant rights group.

The Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT) said one of about 40 workers trapped inside was able to escape from the site, located in Samut Sakhon, a coastal Thai town near Bangkok commonly referred to as Mahachai.

The escapee alerted MAT of the facility’s whereabouts, and they returned with Thai authorities to free the other captive laborers, MAT secretary Khaing Gyi told The Irrawaddy.

RelatedPosts

Renowned Myanmar language teacher John Okell is still inspiring students, five decades on.

Love of the Lingo

August 5, 2020
10.2k
--

‘Secret Garden’ in Wa Special Region Leaves Much to the Imagination

February 27, 2020
8.5k
Two Burmese migrants convicted of killing a British couple on Thailand’s Koh Tao Island in 2014. / Bangkok Pos

Thai Court Extends Deadline for Counter Appeal in Koh Tao Murder Case

December 27, 2017
6k

“One worker ran away through a back door and got in contact with us. In cooperation with Thai authorities, we raided the facility and rescued all the workers,” Khaing Gyi said.

About 60 people were removed from the site, among them about 40 workers and their family members, he said. The Thai-owned shrimp peeling facility was staffed with workers from Mon and Karen states, as well as Tenasserim Division.

Some of the workers had been working at the site for about seven months, while others claim to have been trapped inside for upwards of three years, long after they had paid back debts owed to middlemen who work as employment brokers.

Win Win Than, a pregnant worker who was among those freed on Tuesday, said she had not been allowed to leave since she arrived at the site two years ago.

“I was never allowed to go out,” she said. “At first the middleman said I had to give him 12,000 baht [US$360], but then he asked me for 20,000 when we got there. He was a Burmese national.”

Win Win Than said she and her coworkers began their shift at 5am each day and worked until about 8pm. The workers said they believed they had been issued legitimate work documents, but that the papers were still in the possession of either the broker or the company owner.

MAT said the migrants earned only 50 to 200 baht per day, well below Thailand’s minimum wage of 300 baht. Because they were unable to leave, they spent much of their earnings on food brought in by the broker at a 50 percent markup.

The broker and the owner of the facility remain at large since the raid, MAT said. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the allegations.

The US State Department recently estimated that there could be as many as three million migrant laborers in Thailand, though the Thai Ministry of Labor put the number at about one million last year.

Most migrants in Thailand are from Burma, Cambodia and Laos, and less than half have legal documents allowing them to work in the Kingdom with some basic protections.

Many migrants arrive in Thailand with the help of a broker, who receives a fee to transport them across the border and find them legal employment. Brokers often deliver the service as promised, but many migrants find themselves in a position of indefinite exploitation with no avenue of recourse.

Last year, Thailand was designated as a “Tier 3” country in the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The downgrade was due in part to human trafficking in the seafood industry and in the country’s south, where recent years have seen a sharp rise in trafficking of people from western Burma and Bangladesh, mostly believed to be stateless Rohingya asylum seekers.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: A_FactivaMigrant Issues
Khin Oo Tha

Khin Oo Tha

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Inspiring Women of Burma  
Burma

Inspiring Women of Burma  

by The Irrawaddy
March 18, 2016
33.6k

The contributions of some of Burma’s leading female figures are highlighted in the final part of a series that ran...

Read moreDetails
Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’
Asia

Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’

by Saw Yan Naing
January 18, 2016
13.7k

Tasneem Roc, an Australian actress who also has ethnic Karen roots, speaks with The Irrawaddy about her career and her...

Read moreDetails
Burma’s Media Landscape Through the Years
Burma

Burma’s Media Landscape Through the Years

by The Irrawaddy
May 4, 2016
13.5k

In the wake of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on Tuesday, The Irrawaddy revisits a history of Burmese media stretching...

Read moreDetails
Burmese Director Explores Same-Sex Relationships in New Film
Burma

Burmese Director Explores Same-Sex Relationships in New Film

by Yu Mon Kyaw
January 28, 2016
8.2k

Entitled ‘Gemini,’ Nyo Min Lwin’s film about romance between two men explores ground seldom trod in Burma’s movie industry.

Read moreDetails
Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace
Commentary

Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace

by Nyein Nyein
September 10, 2015
8.7k

Burmese generals’ edicts have often been intimately tied to numerology and astrology. Is the peace process similarly tied to superstitious...

Read moreDetails
Chief Ministers of Arakan
Burma

Chief Ministers of Arakan, Karen States Resign to Join USDP

by Kyaw Phyo Tha
August 26, 2015
2k

The chief ministers of two states resign to contest Burma’s upcoming general election, set for Nov. 8, representing the ruling...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Imprisoned at Sea

Imprisoned at Sea

Karenni State Needs in Spotlight at Ethnic Meet-Up in Loikaw

Karenni State Needs in Spotlight at Ethnic Meet-Up in Loikaw

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

1 day ago
810
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

3 days ago
807

Most Read

  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.