THAILAND - MIGRATION IN 2000

The recovery Thailand experienced in 1999 continued through the year 2000. However, the pace of growth stabilized. In fact, GDP growth (4.3 percent) was practically the same as the previous year and industrial production did not increase much. Unemployment increased again to 3.7 percent. In the face of a sluggish economy, Thais picked a tycoon as the new prime minister, perhaps in the hope that he can provide better economic leadership.

While struggling through economic recovery, Thailand remained a place for immigration for workers from neighboring countries, in particular Burma, but also Cambodia and Laos. The government has maintained the restriction on foreign labor adopted in 1999. Foreign workers were allowed only in 18 sectors and limited to 37 provinces. A little over 100,000 workers had received one-year work permits. When the permits expired in August, the government extended the deadline, provided workers were registered and set a limit to 106,684 migrants. In November, 109,786 applications were received, exceeding the quota. The attempt to keep a legal immigration system according to plans seemed moot, however, considering the high number of irregular migrants present in Thailand. No specific attempts were made to determine the number of such migrants, but the usual figure of one million continued to be cited by the media.

The government continued operations of arrest and deportation of irregular migrants, focusing also on some 350,000 Burmese children under 13 who beg on the streets. From January to November, 185,099 foreign workers, mostly Burmese, had been arrested and 1,486 Thai employers were charged for providing shelter to irregular migrants. However, most observers agree that deported irregular migrants soon return to Thailand. Samut Sakhon is known as the capital of irregular migrant workers, since it is the first stop from the border provinces. Smuggling, however, has become an organized business, with gangs heavily involved in it. Gangs classify workers in two categories: those seeking easy jobs in the service sector and those wanting to work as laborers. The first group poses as tourists and is transported by air-conditioned vans to Bangkok, paying a fee of 10,000 baht each. The second group is transported in groups of 50 by trucks, paying a fee of 4,000 to 5,000 baht each. Gangs have also started organizing home visits for Burmese workers. Irregular migrants originated also from other countries, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and China, as Thailand was used as a transit country in the trafficking of migrants. The involvement of gangs in trafficking women and children for sex activities has been on the rise.

On the other hand, the policy to replace irregular workers with local workers did not succeed. The Department of Labor revealed that 80 percent of Thai workers resigned before completing training for factory jobs previously held by irregular migrants, although they were paid full wages and overtime pay. The Department of Health pointed to the social costs of irregular migrants. The 10 hospitals in the Thai-Burmese border provinces treated some 15,252 foreign patients in 1999, of whom 9,486 were Burmese, at the cost of 165 million baht.

Thailand has been giving refuge to Karen ethnics escaping violence from Burma. The number of Karen refugees in Thailand grew during the year (over 100,000), after conflicts with the Burmese government over a repatriation scheme. Many of them intended to return to Burma, also because of vice and illegal activities in the camps. However, the situation did not improve considerably. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whose help Thailand sought in the repatriation attempt, declared it was not capable of supervising repatriation, as it had no access to Burma. On the other hand, the Human Rights Watch denounced the forced repatriation of 100 refugees from the Nu Pho camp as they would be in danger in Burma. Then Prime Minster Chuan Leekpai assured Commissioner Sadako Ogata, who visited the refugee camps, that repatriation would take place only with the presence of UNHCR officers and on the condition that they would not face persecution in Burma. He also asked for UNHCR’s greater participation to solve the issue.

Thai workers continued to seek jobs overseas. The Labor Ministry expected the figure to reach 210,000 in 2000. Top destination countries were Taiwan, Singapore, Brunei, Israel and Malaysia. The permanent secretary for labor denounced the  agencies' practice of particularly overcharging recruitment fees. In addition to 30 Taiwanese agencies that were blacklisted, Thai agencies were denounced for charging as much as 180,000 baht, instead of the allowed 56,000 baht. Remittances in 1999 reached 56 billion bath.