54 Burmese Migrants Suffocate On Thai Soil

Scott · April 11, 2008

Donna, you summed it up well.

I'm pretty hardened, been in a number of battle zones and seen a lot of people killed. It doesn't bother me much, unfortunately. What always does, however, is the fact that somewhere out there is a family member whose life will be forever changed by a senseless death.

In the case of the deceased Burmese, in some way their lives may be more important than ours, because the very existence of their family may lie on the this persons shoulders. In our countries we always have the gov't, as a last resort, to take care of our families.

For the deceased, their suffering is over. For those left behind, their misery will only deepen.

sonnyJ · April 11, 2008

Terrible though it is, it's also extremely common. As said, we see Africans habitually chancing it across the med'; not to mention the influx of eastern Europeans to the West, and Chinese peasants too... even in northern Italy, where there were anti-Chinese immigrant riots not too long ago. I'm sure Americans could report the huge Latino influx north.
This is a direct result of globalisation and free-market capitalism, and the neo-colonialist policy of immigrationism where you institutionalise the import of cheap labour from the developing world to keep costs low for the relatively affluent and exploit the working classes of the host population and the poor immigrants... it's like covert slavery... it's promoted the massive growth of human trafficking and effective slave-trade that profits only criminal gangs like these and ruling elites, whether gangster regimes like in Burma, or corporate capitalist regimes like in the "West".

It isn't sustainable; it's also immoral.

Unfortunately, I think as global population growth seems to be exponential in some parts of the developing world, this is only going to get worse, as increasing numbers of desparate people fight over pressured resources. The rice riots across the world are alarming and depressing forebodings of what may come.

In pre-emptive response to any criticisms...

...No, I'm not a commie; but I am an ethical patriot: because I believe in putting people before profits; and because I believe in putting my own ethnic group before aliens and immigrants in my own country.

...Solution to human trafficking... The "West" needs to stop immigration, and take the issue to the developing world and basically re-instate a version of locally-supported colonialism, where we create Special Economic Zones in the developing world, and train and manage the people to manage themselves better... a sort of merger of the UN and NATO.

Of course, I'm well aware that this sounds naive and idealistic now; but I'm not so sure it will in a couple of decades time when world population is up another 50%...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

...and food (farmable land) and freshwater resources,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security...al_water_crisis

...even in Thailand... the Mekong could be reduced to a trickle over the next 30 years... Camel Treks across the Isaan desert might be nice though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security...o_food_security

At the end of the day, these poor people risked all because there ain't no Clint Eastwood to ride into town and kick out the baddies; because Burma's puppetmaster China has such an enormous positive trade balance with the "West", and "our" governments are too short-termist and cowardly to take on China... we can see from the pugilistic, arrogant, and aggressive response from the Chinese to the public ourpouring of revulsion with Chinese behaviour in Tibet before these Olympics the monster we're feeding.

The only hope is that the pro-Tibet, anti-China protests gather such momentum that they force democratic governments to stand up to China, and threaten the boycott of the Olympics... that's the key to stopping this kind of human trafficking happening in the first place.

I read though, that the influx of Burmese, and South Asians into Thailand is starting to alarm even Thai people. My wife, from a military family, is particulary hostile to this... including the Sino-Thais (the fair skinned ones with extra-long Thai made-up names - "chitty-chitty-bang-bangs" as my wife called them!)

Hear,hear.

Edonista · April 11, 2008

This is a direct result of globalisation and free-market capitalism.

To the contrary.

This is a direct result of an immigration policy that negates the principles of globalization and free market capitalism.

If such principles were applied, the Burmese would have been free to enter Thailand without any need to hide inside a truck, and now would be working giving prosperity to the country instead of filling its graves and jails.

The moral responsability of this tragedy lies completely on Thai Immigration restrictive rules and those people who conceived and apply them.

indothai · April 11, 2008

Illegal immigrants want to find work and willing to do anything to support their families.

Traffickers exploit the situation of illegal immigrants.

Always in persuit of finding cheap labor.

In the short term, there will be crack downs.... in the long term,... hate to point out the obvious....

mellow1 · April 11, 2008

Remember they were/are illegal immigrants and have probably heard of the risks.

It's part of the hypocritical nature of a lot of posts on this thread. True, the loss of life is tragic, but it seems like if you're an illegal and you survive the journey, "you're a criminal and parasite." But if you lose your life trying to get over here (or any other country you're trying to get into), you're an "exploited person just looking for a better life."

And should the victims be white, I shudder at the negative comments which would be directed at them on this forum.

May these poor souls rest in peace.

notime · April 11, 2008

While the world fusses over the serious issue of Tibet, the Burmese are still the forgotten people.

Surrounded by sycophantic neighbours and the limp-wristed rubber stamp that is ASEAN. But maybe the fate of the Burmese people is in their own hands? They are being repressed only by their own junta...?

This point of view is common to people who enjoyed living in Western democracy all their life. They just don't realise how little it takes to turn a democratic country into a brutal regime and also how little it takes for the home-grown regime to keep the whole population under control.

Look at the historical examples of Nazi Germany, Soviet Union or Cambodia where home-grown parties came to power to later dominate, terrorise and lead their populations to war and impoverishment. Power doesn't come from numbers but as Mao Zedong said: "from the barel of a gun". With the right amount of guns, ammunition and policy of terror it takes very little to subdue the defenceless millions.

Burma and countries alike (North Korea, Cuba, China) cannot be changed from the inside by the wishes of their opressed populations. Any form of anti-government activities, encouraging people to organise themselves or even spreading true information is met with brutal response by their clickes of power. These inculde arrests, beatings, torture, locking up in jails and concentration camps and of course killings. Faced with such dominant and sinister forces the normal human reaction is fear and acceptance of subjugation for the sake of survival. The only rescue can come from the outside or in the absence of it such systems will last many many years until someone in their own elites of power relinquish the reign of terror and make a little room for the oppresed ones to start fighting for their rights.

My heart goes to families of people who died and to ALL in Burma suffering the indignity of the situation. Hope these horrible deaths contribute to the World take notice of their plea and the public opinion of free countries start asking their governments to formulate the policy of action towards terrorist states worthy of our moral values in the 3rd millenium.

george · April 11, 2008

Update:

Burma deaths show immigrant labour system doesn't work, says ILO

BANGKOK: -- The deaths by suffocation of 54 Burma illegal workers have highlighted the failure of Thailand's formal recruitment labour system, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said Friday.

The mass suffocation of some 54 Burma nationals Wednesday night in Ranong province, southern Thailand, as they were being secretly transported in a seafood container truck, has drawn international attention to the country's poor record in human-trafficking and abuse of foreign labourers, said the ILO.

"It is clear that this occurrence is an indication, indeed a consequence, of a much larger problem," said Bill Salter, ILO's Sub-regional Director for East Asia.

He said the ILO would be investigating the incident, and watching to see what happens to the culpable parties.

Although the Thai government has put in place a system for legalizing migrant workers from neighbouring Burma, Laos and Cambodia, the system has proven inadequate to cover and protect the estimated 2 million foreign labourers in the country.

"The formal systems of recruitment are not working," said Slater in a statement.

For almost a decade Thailand has registered foreign labourers usually employed in the fisheries, construction, agricultural and domestics sectors, allowing them to work in the country legally.

The great majority of the migrant workers are from neighbouring Burma, also called Burma, a country notorious for its political, social and economic woes.

The Thai government estimates that there are some 490,000 "identified" Burma migrant workers, but the real number of these workers in the country could exceed 2 million.

"These people are coming and they are going to come anyway, so rather than crack down on them, and driving them further underground, there needs to be a better labour migration management system," said Alan Dow, representative of the ILO office in Bangkok.

The ILO has urged Thailand and neighbouring governments improve the registration system to make it more comprehensive, noting that the current system is "slow and expensive," and fails to allow labourers to change employers "even if they suffer abuse."

According to the ILO's field research, more than half of the Thai employers interviewed were of the view that locking up their migrant employees so they "couldn't escape" was appropriate.

"The migrants are treated like a disposable workforce," said Dow. "Clearly Thai employers want access to a flexible labour force but what the ILO is saying is that they need to be treated fairly."

That means holding employers and recruiters accountable for the treatment of migrants, legally registered to work or otherwise, and punishing those employers, recruiters and sub-contractors who abuse both the system and the migrants, he said.

"There is clearly a pressing need to develop a far-reaching, forward looking labour migration policy that will benefit not just the economy but people too - especially workers from other countries who, at the end of the day, are doing their fair share of helping the country grow," said Slater.

--dpa 2008-04-11

Heng · April 11, 2008

Remember they were/are illegal immigrants and have probably heard of the risks.

It's part of the hypocritical nature of a lot of posts on this thread. True, the loss of life is tragic, but it seems like if you're an illegal and you survive the journey, "you're a criminal and parasite." But if you lose your life trying to get over here (or any other country you're trying to get into), you're an "exploited person just looking for a better life."

And should the victims be white, I shudder at the negative comments which would be directed at them on this forum.

May these poor souls rest in peace.

Simple, then there is no doubt who the victims are, because no one would be stupid enough to pack into a poorly maintained minivan just to go to some border town every 90 days. It must be someone else's fault and likely part of a conspiracy.

Chang_paarp · April 11, 2008

ABC Australia

Burmese workers charged over ill-fated people smuggling
By south-east Asia correspondent Karen Percy

Posted 23 minutes ago

More than 50 Burmese workers who survived yesterday's fatal people-smuggling journey into Thailand have been charged with illegally entering the Kingdom.

The men and women were charged in a court in Ranong, about 500 kilometres south of Bangkok.

Most have been sentenced to serve five days in jail and will then be sent back to Burma.

Fourteen children are also facing deportation.

More than 50 of their fellow immigrants died of suffocation inside a poorly ventilated truck which was taking them to the southern tourist island of Phuket.

They were fleeing the poverty and oppression of Burma's military junta and were hoping to work in the construction or fishing industries.

The driver of the truck is still wanted and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/11/2214912.htm

Got to love the compassionate way these folk are treated.

Edit to add longer lasting link.

Edited April 11, 2008 by Chang_paarp

sriracha john · April 11, 2008

From here...

Thailand volunteer rescue workers collect the bodies of dead Myanmar migrant workers Thursday, April 10, 2008, from the back of a seafood van in Ranong, Thailand. Fifty-four migrant workers from Myanmar, most of them women, suffocated in the back of an unventilated seafood truck in southern Thailand while being smuggled to the popular resort island of Phuket, police said Thursday.

Associated Press

To there...

A Thai worker plasters concrete over the mass graves of Myanmar migrants who died while being smuggled through Thailand in a locked truck, in Ranong Province, Thailand, on Friday April 11. 2008. Police say most of the 67 survivors of the ordeal, in which 54 of their countrymen were suffocated, were convicted Friday of illegal entry, and will be sent home. The 14 minors among them have already been repatriated.

Associated Press

hanibal7 · April 11, 2008

The thai polce said it was the worst case of suicide they had seenAlso they cannot understand why they had no money in their pockets.

very sad,but after 5 years nothing shocks me anymore.

r.i.p

traveller57 · April 11, 2008

what a terrible way to die. escaping a country to earn a living for your family.
my heart goes out to the survivors of this tragedy, as well as the families of the deceased. its hard to believe that this can happen in 2008. what a callous #$%& the truck driver is, as are the people who 'organised' this 'shipment'.

this story has made me cry and the 'people' who did this should hang their heads in shame for what they have done.

disgusting. im speechless.

great post there donna.a lot of people feel the same as you so you are not alone in that.

cheers,dave

BigSnake · April 11, 2008

Darn SHAME, just goes to show what people will do for a few baht, can only image what those poor soul must have gone thur. What a waste of Human life. RIP all.

thaigene2 · April 11, 2008

While the world fusses over the serious issue of Tibet, the Burmese are still the forgotten people.

Surrounded by sycophantic neighbours and the limp-wristed rubber stamp that is ASEAN. But maybe the fate of the Burmese people is in their own hands? They are being repressed only by their own junta...?

Well ok we all know about Burma. But does that somehow give the Thais some kind of right to treat these people like shit? Sub-human?? Don't say "well they are better off here than in burma - so we can pay them half as much as thais, lock them up, have police extort money from them when they go out, and then shit on them whenever we feel like it..cause they're not Thai" (oh look, every Captain wants to work in Samut Sakhon or Mae Sot cause that's where the real TEA money can be made - from migrants earning 100 baht a per day)! That's as low as a human can get - pure "Thai Kee Nok" in my view.

Edited April 11, 2008 by thaigene2

luisparis · April 11, 2008

Funny pics of the grave, it looks bigger than the truck. I sure wonder what went in through minds went they entered that container... Besides I should go back to Yangon at least twice over the next few weeks, quite a fun place actually.

luisparis · April 11, 2008

QUOTE (mullup @ 2008-04-10 09:40:07) While the world fusses over the serious issue of Tibet, the Burmese are still the forgotten people."

That's not so, just remember the last time they hammered a few monks' heads in Yangon... such an international outcry... and trading in burmese goods or with burma is heavily restricted in several western countries whereas trade between the West and China just keeps growing bigger.

Edited April 11, 2008 by luisparis

john b good · April 12, 2008

The thai polce said it was the worst case of suicide they had seenAlso they cannot understand why they had no money in their pockets.
very sad,but after 5 years nothing shocks me anymore.

r.i.p

"worst case of suicide"

Where does suicide come into the scenario ??

It was plain and simple MURDER and the very least that a judge would bring down would be manslaughter.

This is why the police in the realm are viewed with ridicule. Better that they keep their collectives mouths shut because every time that they open them they have their foot (feet) stuck right inside.

johna · April 12, 2008

It would be murder if the driver had connected a pipe from the exhaust to the container.

Switching off the air con is stupidity coupled with contempt for the passengers and that amounts to manslaughter

chuck_s · April 12, 2008

This is an unfortunate tragedy to happen to these people on their dreams of making a better life for themselves in their neighboring country. Those Burmese that I do know are nice, friendly, hardworking, (a few are even professors at ABAC University) and are very polite.

Unfortunately to Thai people they don’t care or really give a dam_n. The Burmese are their slave labor; they do the jobs that Thai are not able to or not willing to do. They do fear them a lot. I think it has to do with history. Thai will tell you, Burmese will kill you, rob you, and rape or woman.

Just like in the U.S. People from hundreds of thousands of people from neighboring Mexico also do the same thing on a daily basis. They risk death or capture to be sent back. Some do make it into the U.S. and do get low class jobs. They get married or meet families already here, wait the 5 years, and get their citizenship. In the U.S. the Catholic Church does help quite a bit and is considered a safe place for them to connect to.

george · April 12, 2008

Update:

Truck owner charged with negligence; Surviving workers waiting for deportation

RANONG: -- A businessman was arrested on Friday in the southern province of Ranong, after 54 Myanmar migrant workers were found dead of suffocation in his seafood container truck, police said.

Ranong police took 45-year-old Damrong Pussadee to a local court to seek permission to hold him for an initial period of 12 days.

He was charged with causing death by negligence, subject to a maximum of ten year’s imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the truck driver identified as Suchol Boonplong was still at large.

According to police, Mr. Damrong denied any wrongdoing, claiming Mr. Suchol used his vehicle to transport some 120 illegal migrant workers without his permission and knowledge.

Meanwhile, 50 survivors from the truck were taken to Ranong Provincial Court to face charges of illegal entry. After the court proceedings, they were in police custody at Ranong immigration detention centre awaiting deportation.

Also on Friday, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) issued a statement expressing its condolences and urged the Thai government to identify measures to ensure fair treatment for alien workers in the Kingdom.

--TNA 2008-04-12

george · April 12, 2008

Death truck Burmese survivors face deportation from Thailand

RANONG: -- Survivors of a human smuggling tragedy in Thailand, in which 54 people suffocated in a locked container truck, will be deported back to army-ruled Myanmar, a Thai court has ruled.

Fifty survivors were fined up to 2,000 baht each for being in the country illegally, but most could not pay and faced a brief jail term before they are deported, court officials said.

Another 14 youths were sent to an immigration centre to await immediate deportation.

The driver, named by police as Suchon Boonplongin, has eluded a manhunt since he abandoned the truck late on Wednesday.

Some 120 migrants were crammed upright in a 6m container and began passing out when the air conditioning system failed enroute to the southern tourist island of Phuket.

"Police from various units are looking for Suchon and other people involved in the trafficking ring," Police Major-General Apirak Hongthong said.

Both men will be charged with conspiracy to hide, help or smuggle illegal aliens into Thailand, and for careless actions causing death, police said.

If convicted, they face a maximum 10 years in jail.

Survivors said they pounded on the sides and screamed at the driver as the air grew thinner inside the stifling hot container.

"We contacted the driver using a mobile phone, but he told us in Burmese to keep quiet and make no trouble," Tida Toy, 21, told the Bangkok Post newspaper.

"He switched off the phone and drove on," she said.

Their horrific deaths have sparked outrage from rights groups and renewed calls for tough action against human trafficking networks in the region.

-- Reuters 2008-04-12

LaoPo · April 12, 2008

Jail for Burmese lorry survivors

A group of Burmese migrants who survived a container lorry journey that suffocated 54 others to death have been jailed in Thailand.

A Thai court found 50 of the migrants guilty of illegal entry and ruled they must serve a two-month prison sentence before being deported.

Fourteen children who also survived have been handed to Thai immigration authorities for repatriation to Burma.

Several survivors are being treated in hospital for dehydration.

Human traffickers were smuggling 121 people to the resort island of Phuket in southern Thailand when the lorry's ventilation failed.

The migrants began banging on the walls of the locked airtight container, which measured 6m by 2m.

The driver opened the doors of the vehicle at the Thai town of Ranong but fled on foot when he saw what had happened.

One survivor, Ko Ko Lah, told AP news agency: "It was horrible, I heard people screaming, shouting and banging on the walls until I passed out."

Many Burmese workers enter Thailand illegally in the hope of finding jobs in the fishing and construction industries, or as house maids.

BBC NEWS Asia Pacific

LaoPo

LiveSteam · April 12, 2008

Remember they were/are illegal immigrants and have probably heard of the risks.

It's part of the hypocritical nature of a lot of posts on this thread. True, the loss of life is tragic, but it seems like if you're an illegal and you survive the journey, "you're a criminal and parasite." But if you lose your life trying to get over here (or any other country you're trying to get into), you're an "exploited person just looking for a better life."

Heng, I know what you mean and you are spot on.

LiveSteam

george · April 12, 2008

Update:

Security agencies meet to prevent illegal foreign worker entry

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's security agencies will soon meet to find ways to prevent undocumented foreigners from entering and working in the Kingdom, First Army Region commander Lt-Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said Saturday.

Speaking to TNA, Lt. Gen. Prayuth, who is responsible for security affairs in the Central region and Bangkok, said illegal foreign migrant workers entering the country was the most important issue for the Thai military and that related security agencies were now preparing documents which would be discussed soon.

Senior officials of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), the National Security Council (NSC) and other agencies will attend the meeting, he said.

The problem did not rest with Thailand, but with neighbouring countries which did not want to accept to return of their nationals, Gen. Prayuth said.

A high level official meeting must discuss resolving the problem, but while the direction is still unclear the military will have to put out efforts to prevent illegal foreigners from entering and work in this country, he said.

His remarks were made following Thursday's incident in which 54 Myanmar workers were found dead of suffocation in a seafood container truck. The workers secretly entered the southern Thai border province of Ranong and were traveling to Phuket province.

A Thai businessman was apprehended Friday in Ranong, but the truck driver was still at large.

Meanwhile, 50 survivors from the transport tragedy were taken to Ranong Provincial Court to face charges of illegal entry. After the court proceedings, they were in police custody at Ranong immigration detention centre awaiting deportation.

Lt-Gen. Prayuth said that a special task force had set up a checkpoint in Ranong after learning that illegal foreign workers would be entering Ranong, but the tragic incident took place before the truck arrived at the checkpoint.

He said that it was difficult to solve the problem because of the lack of army personnel.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said he had ordered personnel from the Department of East Asian Affairs to visit the surviving laborers of the incident at the hospital.

The Thai authorities had also provided an arrangement for the bodies of the deceased, said Mr. Noppadon, adding that they would also "undertake stern measures if this incident was proved to be involved with human trafficking."

--TNA 2008-04-12

toret · April 12, 2008

it's only a paradise for rich old FAT farang farts and the local thai rich population that does everything to suppres that kind of people but are happy to emploi them for a few thousand (4-5) baht to work as maid, ...

So I guess you are young and skinny?

Anyway, Thailand is a good country for much more than the groups you mention.

scotbeve · April 12, 2008

I know we all have our rants and complaints ( I'm one of the worst offenders).
Yet when stories like this come to light, it makes one sit back and take stock of the things we actually have, not just the things that we would like to have.

These poor people are being exploited in the most terrible way, their only crime is to be born poor.

I for one feel very fortunate at this moment, to be sitting in my A/C office having the time to surf the web whilst getting paid.

For many of the worlds population, the very things we take for granted are only dreams that will remain dreams forever.

Stories like this are very disturbing.

RIP to all.

well it is going to be difficult to blame thais here. it seems as where there is prosperity and a country in close proximity to it, that is not.......................

the hosing country becomes a pressure relief valve when economic times are bad,

it is sad for all involved.

believe in the lord.................but tie up your horse.

Why do you say it is difficult to blame thais? It is obvious, the THAI person (owner of the container) , who received the money in full amount (burmese survivior mentioned THB 5000 per persom- THAI "receiver of the money" mentioned THB 5000 ) This means that he had to pay "whoever" with the money he had received from the burmese.

Looking forward to your answer to my question

Warmwater7,

It looks and sounds like that the person you replied to will very soon have a barrage of anti Thai-ostrich-head-in-the-sand-ultra-xenophobic-type replies. Is this person working for the present administration re: in bed-take-all-you-can-from-the-"Buddhist friendly"-military junta????

thaigene2 · April 12, 2008

Remember they were/are illegal immigrants and have probably heard of the risks.

It's part of the hypocritical nature of a lot of posts on this thread. True, the loss of life is tragic, but it seems like if you're an illegal and you survive the journey, "you're a criminal and parasite." But if you lose your life trying to get over here (or any other country you're trying to get into), you're an "exploited person just looking for a better life."

Heng, I know what you mean and you are spot on.

LiveSteam

Yes, exactly. The dead are victims, the ones who didn't die were rounded up and treated like sh+t as they would have been - and usually are - by the Thai authorities. It speaks volumes that they're already kciking them out of the country. I mean aren't they material witnesses to A CRIME? And if it was 'trafficking' as the police now claim, then have they arrested the employers? If they were 'trafficked' - and not just 'smuggled' (e.g. as opposed to simply paying for transportation) doesn't that make them victims too? Apparently not - get rid of them as fast as you can seems to be the instructions - but from whom?

People are making money of this - and the quick sweep under the carpet and the silence regarding and attempt to track down the employers (the end "users" of these poor people), is pretty obviously suspicious. Thinks about it - if 1,000 baht per person (from the alleged 5,000 paid) was to some corrupt officials, that would amount to nearly 125,000 Baht - that's one truck, one night, where something went wrong. Maybe there were a a dozen trucks that night carrying nearly 1500 migrants from border to factory, fishing boat, wherever. That would be 1.5 MILLION baht for the corrupt officials! And that's just ONE NIGHT! If it happens once per week, that's six milion baht per month, or 72 MILLION BAHT per year - just for the corrupt officials in that one province ALONE - never mind the employers exploitation at the factory or wherever.

Therein may lie the answer to the hush-hush approach, ignore the employer angle and search in the dark for some truck driver as the culpirt! Because the employers can lead to the recruiters/transporters, and in turn they can finger the corrupt officials/police, etc..

Edited April 12, 2008 by thaigene2

Heng · April 12, 2008

never mind the employers exploitation at the factory or wherever.

You'd be a riot at our worksites (made up of plenty of foreigners, all legals of course), Gene.

Gene: You are all being exploited!

Khmer laborer: So will you give us a job?

Gene: No! I don't want to exploit you! (dramatic pause) ...You are being exploited!

johna · April 12, 2008

BBC reports that the survivors have been sentenced to 2 months in jail. now that is ridiculous.

What will be the fate of these people when they are handed over to Burmese Authorities?

BBC

Jail for Burmese lorry survivors

Survivors described the screams of the dying

A group of Burmese migrants who survived a container lorry journey that suffocated 54 others to death have been jailed in Thailand.