In Thailand there are very many migrant workers from Burma, and to a lesser extent from other poorer South-East Asian countries. As result, the supply of workers for the unskilled jobs which are available to them far exceeds the number of jobs offered by Thai employers. This is one factor which puts the employers in a very strong bargaining position and the workers in a correspondingly weak position.
Cedric Snodgrass ( Burma Digest )
http://burmadigest.wordpress.com/2007/06/13/burmese-migrant-workers-in-thailand/
This is Mee-tum he is a student at the Burmese Migrant Centre School in Chiang Rai, his parents are migrant workers. At the school he has an opportunity to learn Thai, English and Burmese language skills. Hes a little bit shy. Today I watched him interacting with other children, speaking Burmese and laughing and playing. The school is a happy place for these kids.
This is his teacher Somalar , she is ethnic Karen and comes from Yangon in Burma. She came to Thailand to look for work. Some of her family still live in Burma. She is a beautiful , gentle teacher and the children really love her.
When I see these kids I just wonder how we can as human beings decide that one person is of more worth than another. There is an element of prejudice in every society. Burmese people face prejudices in Thailand that are as old as the Kingdoms they come from. This is not for me to judge but it is still so cool to see these little ones getting a chance to go to school because of the work of The Mekong Minority Foundation, which is the Non Government Organisation I am working with at the moment to make a video which may garner support for this school. If you have any brainwaves on ways to help these children continue their education please contact me. Thanks for reading I really appreciate all the people that contact me after reading pieces on this blog.
