Thai editorial: Time we showed migrant workers the respect they deserve

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Time we showed migrant workers the respect they deserve
The Nation

For decades we have taken advantage, overworking and underpaying them as they helped help build our country

BANGKOK: -- This time around Thailand needs to get this right, so that it doesn't need to keep fixing the problem each time it becomes a public issue.

Yes, we are talking about the effort to attract foreign workers to the country. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is trying to make it easier for foreign workers, the vast majority of whom are from neighbouring countries, to stay and work in Thailand.

Many of these migrant workers are undocumented and efforts are now underway to grant them legal status. The country received a wake-up call following reports of an imminent crackdown on illegal workers. The reports triggered an exodus among Cambodian workers, more than 200,000 of whom streamed back home over the border.

If anything, the incident was a lesson in how mishandling of information can cost the country dearly in economic terms. It also provided Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen with some cheap ammunition to attack the NCPO, which he accused of "violating" the rights of Cambodian workers in Thailand with this repatriation effort.

It was pretty obvious that Hun Sen was seeking to woo his domestic audience at the expense of NCPO feelings. But if the Thai junta doesn't mind, it doesn't matter.

Nevertheless, one thing the NCPO must care about is the need for a sense of justice in dealings with all foreign workers, regardless of their country of origin.

The US State Department's recent decision to downgrade Thailand's status to the bottom tier in its Trafficking in Persons report was also a wake-up call that we need serious action on this issue.

At a glance, the military's recently announced plan doesn't sound so bad. It includes the establishment of one-stop registration centres around the country for migrant workers, most of whom are from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

The first centre opened yesterday in Samut Sakhon, which has a high number of Myanmar workers. Twenty-two more provinces are set to open similar centres.

The NCPO says the idea is to boost transparency and curb exploitation of the workers by Thai officials and others.

The registration process is designed to be quick and easy, but the burden is essentially on the workers themselves to provide identification proving their country of origin. Hun Sen has helped by lowering the price of a Cambodian passport to the equivalent of Bt130.

However, registering workers is only one part of the solution.

Thai authorities need to think how to improve their quality of life, which is usually dire. This means better housing, affordable healthcare, education for their children, and so on. More than 10,000 children of Myanmar workers live in Samut Sakhon alone, according to one estimate.

We need to understand that these workers have feelings like anyone else, and a desire to be treated with respect and dignity.

If we afford them that basic right, our credibility and standing in the international community will rise. But let's not do this just for the ratings. Let's do this because it is the right thing to do. For decades we have taken advantage of these migrants, overworking and underpaying them as they helped help build our country. It's high time we showed them the respect they deserve.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Time-we-showed-migrant-workers-the-respect-they-de-30237680.html


-- The Nation 2014-07-04

[EnzoRippo]

Not only a question of salaries and rules.

The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.

It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

[timewilltell]

Not only a question of salaries and rules.

The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.

It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

Ha! You assume that there is consideration of how a Thai person considers another person. The most common scenario is of complete selfishness with zero thought going towards the opinion or explanation of another person. Add to that the grossly inflated ego and childish pettiness and you have the fabric of Thainess. I'm not sure if it's ignorance or a cleverly disguised slight of hand, lack of education or the necessity for self delusion to save from the realization that so many years of living has resulted in so little understanding of the world around. Or maybe there is a secret loving of Peter Pan and never land and watching shadow shows on the wall.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Bender]

Time we showed migrant workers the respect they deserve

my advice to these people : run, run, run...

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Not only a question of salaries and rules.
The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.
It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

Ha! You assume that there is consideration of how a Thai person considers another person. The most common scenario is of complete selfishness with zero thought going towards the opinion or explanation of another person. Add to that the grossly inflated ego and childish pettiness and you have the fabric of Thainess. I'm not sure if it's ignorance or a cleverly disguised slight of hand, lack of education or the necessity for self delusion to save from the realization that so many years of living has resulted in so little understanding of the world around. Or maybe there is a secret loving of Peter Pan and never land and watching shadow shows on the wall.


Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

All of the above wrapped into one.

[rkidlad]

Does this headline include me?

[lostsoul49]

Would also be nice if at last westerners were shown enough respect to make it just as easy to be migrant workers.

[ggt]

Ditto...for ex-pats living in Thailand...and tourists...a little respect would go a long way toward healing old wounds...

[spidermike007]

Not only a question of salaries and rules.

The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.

It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

Well, it is complex. Thailand has engaged in countless wars with Burma (the Mons and the Pagans in particular), Laos and Cambodia for the past 1200 years or so. Some were started by the Thais, some by the Khmers, some by the Lao, and who ended up on top? Burma and Cambodia used to be major regional powers in centuries past. Far richer and more powerful than Thailand at some points in time. Now, Thailand dwarfs the power, wealth, and influence of its poor neighbors. So, for a young Thai, who looks around and see how much more serious his country is, in this day and age, it is easy to cop an attitude, one would think. Especially when you have neighboring countries with despot leaders like Hun Sen, and Than Shwe. Truly small, pathetic men, with billions of dollars of wealth, clinging desperately to power. A sad sight indeed. So, yes the migrant workers deserve to be treated royally. In my opinion they should be given homes, and health insurance. They are the very backbone of this nation, like the Latino workers are the backbone of the US economy. But, will that ever happen? It might start with a good educational system, which teaches an accurate version of history.

[spidermike007]

If anything, the incident was a lesson in how mishandling of information can cost the country dearly in economic terms. It also provided Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen with some cheap ammunition to attack the NCPO, which he accused of "violating" the rights of Cambodian workers in Thailand with this repatriation effort.

​Who on earth cares what this cockroach thinks? He is one of the most heinous pigs in SE Asia. With a personal security force of over 5,000 men, he spends his remaining days trying to protect his billions, and in staying alive, as he has thousands of enemies, who would love nothing more than to deprive this vermin the right to live. He has stolen from his people, he confiscates massive amounts of land at will, he represses his political opponents such as Sam Rainsy at will, and he denies his people the most basic human rights. So, we cannot be expected to care one iota what this pig thinks. The really curious thing, is that there is so much criticism being leveled at the junta here, who are doing go work so far, and yet do any of those western powers ever even mention this pig ally of theirs? No. He runs a country that is far less of a democracy than Thailand. Yet, the little shithe** gets a free pass, to rape, pillage, and steal. Figure that one out.

[Docno]

Not only a question of salaries and rules.

The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.

It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

This is an interesting topic. My gf is a darker-skinner Isaan lady, so at the bottom of the pecking order in Thailand. But she (and her friends) 'love' Laos and Khmers... when we went to Siem Reap, she got along with the people there very well (and they took to her also). None of the Thai-Khmer enmity that I had been worrying about. Years earlier I'd been seeing a fair-skinned, uni-educated Thai lady with Chinese roots, and she had once commented that the Khmers didn't even have the right to exist (a view that was a key part of our break-up). All this to say that yes, there are 'castes', and that yes, some Thais look down on their neighbours, but that there are also an awful lot of Thais who hold very different views, perhaps as a result of where they are on the ladder.

[tingtongteesood]

Especially when you have neighboring countries with despot leaders like Hun Sen, and Than Shwe. Truly small, pathetic men, with billions of dollars of wealth, clinging desperately to power.

Hmmm, who does that remind me of ? If certain people had their way then Thailand would have joined that group in the last few years, glad it hasn't....

[robertson468]

Not only a question of salaries and rules.

The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.

It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

This is an interesting topic. My gf is a darker-skinner Isaan lady, so at the bottom of the pecking order in Thailand. But she (and her friends) 'love' Laos and Khmers... when we went to Siem Reap, she got along with the people there very well (and they took to her also). None of the Thai-Khmer enmity that I had been worrying about. Years earlier I'd been seeing a fair-skinned, uni-educated Thai lady with Chinese roots, and she had once commented that the Khmers didn't even have the right to exist (a view that was a key part of our break-up). All this to say that yes, there are 'castes', and that yes, some Thais look down on their neighbours, but that there are also an awful lot of Thais who hold very different views, perhaps as a result of where they are on the ladder.

Understand what you say about dark skinned Thais, but all that might be about to change. This year, for the first time a dark skinned (and quite talented) young Lady won the Thailand Beauty Pagent. Noticed already there are an abundance of Thai young Ladies adorning the beaches in itsy bitsy bikinis

[spidermike007]

Not only a question of salaries and rules.

The point is that, thanks to their education, Thais are racists. they consider themselves as SUPERIOR to the Khmer, Burmese, Laos.

It's not an article in The Nation which can change that. This is a question of how a human being considers another human being. True also WITHIN the Thai population. Thais believe in castes and races.

This is an interesting topic. My gf is a darker-skinner Isaan lady, so at the bottom of the pecking order in Thailand. But she (and her friends) 'love' Laos and Khmers... when we went to Siem Reap, she got along with the people there very well (and they took to her also). None of the Thai-Khmer enmity that I had been worrying about. Years earlier I'd been seeing a fair-skinned, uni-educated Thai lady with Chinese roots, and she had once commented that the Khmers didn't even have the right to exist (a view that was a key part of our break-up). All this to say that yes, there are 'castes', and that yes, some Thais look down on their neighbours, but that there are also an awful lot of Thais who hold very different views, perhaps as a result of where they are on the ladder.

Understand what you say about dark skinned Thais, but all that might be about to change. This year, for the first time a dark skinned (and quite talented) young Lady won the Thailand Beauty Pagent. Noticed already there are an abundance of Thai young Ladies adorning the beaches in itsy bitsy bikinis

Well, that is a great trend. Not only darker skin, but we need thousands of Thai women wandering the beaches with itzy bitzy bikinis!

Spidermike007

[belg]

they mean, 2 steps higher than farang and 1 step higher than the family dog ?