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Thai lockdown sparks exodus of 60,000 migrant workers - ministry official


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Thai lockdown sparks exodus of 60,000 migrant workers - ministry official

By Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

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Migrant workers from Myanmar are seen on the border as they try to go back their home due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Mae Sot, Thailand, March 24, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - About 60,000 migrant workers living in Thailand have fled the country since authorities shut malls and many businesses at the weekend to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a Thai interior ministry official said on Wednesday.

 

Thailand’s latest measures have left many without jobs and prompted a mass exodus of a large number of the country’s four or five million migrant workers, mainly from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

 

Thailand has closed its land borders, told people to stay at home, and shuttered most businesses in an effort to suppress the virus. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is set to invoke sweeping emergency powers on Thursday.

 

A Thai interior ministry official told Reuters about 60,000 migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar had returned home as of Tuesday. Thailand has reported 934 cases of the virus, the second highest number reported in Southeast Asia.

 

Vast crowds gathered at the Myanmar border, carrying suitcases and luggage on their backs amid sometimes chaotic scenes as crowds scrambled over the gate.

 

“The state authorities are arranging to send the workers back to their respective states and regions by car, but some couldn’t wait and tried to pass the line,” said Ye Min from the Aid Alliance committee, a non-profit that helps migrant workers in Thailand.

 

He said about 30,000 had crossed in recent days through several gates.

 

Citing official records, a lawmaker in Myanmar, Thant Zin Aung, said the number that had passed through just one checkpoint was 18,000, with similar numbers passing through three others.

 

Myanmar's government spokesman Zaw Htay rejected phone calls from Reuters seeking comment.

 

As he waited in line, Win Paing, a 24-year-old employee of a fish cannery, told Reuters by phone his family had asked him to come back.

 

“In Thailand, people are now stocking up on food but I didn’t have much money to stock up, so I just want to go home,” he said.

 

Myanmar reported its third case of the virus early Wednesday, in a 26-year-old man who flew from Britain via Bangkok. All of its confirmed cases so far have been imported.

 

The returning workers were subjected to health checks and have been ordered to quarantine themselves in villages across the country for 14 days.

 

At least 11 have been sent to hospital with high fever, according to local media reports.

 

Large numbers of workers have also crossed into Cambodia and Laos.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Yangon bureau. Writing by Poppy McPherson. Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-25
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9 minutes ago, justin case said:

I thought they wanted THEM OUT, ordered them OUT

 

farangs are next, don't worry

Just in case we haven't got the 'shihit's' right up us already! Thanks justin. ????

Edited by artiz
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1 hour ago, Zack61 said:

What are the numbers of those tested thus far? Is there a source for this figure? We constantly see numbers for positive cases of CV but not for numbers tested. 

 

827 so far but it's only the tested. Maybe like in Europe where they say if we have 1000 tested positive then we might have 10.000 light cases not testet. No one knows how many infected there are in Thailand.

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“The returning workers were subjected to health checks and have been ordered to quarantine themselves invillages across the country for 14 days.”
 

by “health checks” they mean temperature checked, I assume. So they will pick up severe cases, not minor or asymptomatic.

 

same everywhere I guess.

Edited by wensiensheng
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20 minutes ago, Misab said:

827 so far but it's only the tested. Maybe like in Europe where they say if we have 1000 tested positive then we might have 10.000 light cases not testet. No one knows how many infected there are in Thailand.

Or, most other countries .  Thailand is no diffetent

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Whatever, this is a terribly sad thing to happen to all the migrant workers, whether they be from neighboring countries or from poorer parts of Thailand. Nobody deserves to be left high and dry with no savings. I hope no one is going to say they should have to care for themselves, I think we all know what they get paid ! This is a tragedy in the making , and it will be a long time before any country gets over this, and Thailand with its very poor infrastructure and social help will reel from the problems that will arise now, and also after the virus has passed ! 

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At best, this crisis could re-calibrate Thai attitudes. Only now is it slowly dawning on one or the other that the little man has been exploited for at least two generations. They will also now have to learn to only spend money that has already been earned and is available. The whole thing has to do with education and training and is the responsibility of the government;...so far, unfortunately, completely unrealistic. I keep asking myself what has been preached in the classrooms and lecture theaters in Thailand for years? Logical thinking and foreign languages, work ethic and social values rather not - unfortunately. Once again, Thai people should be told that the vote purchases during election campaigns always and everywhere fundamentally go against the interests of the voters. But precisely, democracy is not the ideal model for all countries. Singapore proves it every day anew with its model of "democracy".

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8 hours ago, Borderless Rum Hound said:

But precisely, democracy is not the ideal model for all countries. Singapore proves it every day anew with its model of "democracy".

In a democracy, everyone has the right to be heard and there are countless different opinions, resulting in next to nothing being done as people argue back and forth. In a one-party system such as Singapore there is no such hindrance and the country has thrived and become one of the most successful in Asia. A dictatorship can work better than a democracy, if you have the right people steering the ship instead of a tyrant whose only interests are personal power and lining his pockets. Unfortunately, such benign dictatorships are rare.

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