The Irrawaddy

 

Myanmar’s military regime has abruptly restricted the travel rights of its migrant workers in Thailand, stamping newly issued passports with “Thailand Only” and effectively barring onward travel to third countries.

 

The change, which took effect on Thursday, applies to migrants who convert their Certificate of Identity (CI) into a Passport for Job (PJ)—a document previously valid for international travel and Thai work permits. Visa agencies and migrants say the new rule was introduced without warning or explanation.

 

A staff member at a Bangkok visa service told The Irrawaddy, “We learned they are stamping it on PJs that were recently changed from a CI.” Another agency confirmed no prior notice had been given by the junta or Myanmar’s embassy.

 

Photos shared online show the “Thailand Only” stamp on passports issued at the junta’s Mahachai office in Samut Sakhon Province, near Bangkok. One migrant said the PJ now offers no more freedom than the CI, but costs significantly more.

 

Even Passports for Visit (PV) are reportedly being stamped with similar restrictions, further limiting mobility. Existing PJ holders will receive the same stamp upon renewal, according to a Mahachai passport office staffer.

 

The Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok has yet to issue a statement, and attempts to reach it by phone were unsuccessful.

 

The move has sparked concern among Myanmar’s migrant community in Thailand, many of whom fled the country after the 2021 coup to escape conflict, economic collapse, and forced conscription. According to the International Organization for Migration, the number of Myanmar migrants in Thailand has surged to 4 million since the coup.

 

With no official explanation and growing unease, the new passport policy adds another layer of uncertainty for a population already navigating life in exile.

 

-2025-09-28

As long as the world takes the Tadmadaw serious, there will not be any change. While Europe is flooded with all sort of asylum chancers, cheaters and liars, the Myanmarese could apply - for good reason - for political asylum. 
But they do not, they stay, eventually work overseas (I know of some in Korea and Taiwan ROC) to support their cause of a free Bamar rather than the junta which has been raping and ransacking the country for the last 60+ years to their sole benefit and greed! 

A Myanmar passport gets automatically invalidated by the Tadmadaw ...... but the whole world is watching and says nothing.