Many Cambodian and other migrant workers heading home for Songkran holiday

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Many Cambodian and other migrant workers heading home for Songkran holiday
Chatchawal Sopapan,
Prasit Tangprasert
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- MIGRANT workers are heading home to Cambodia in droves as they prepare to celebrate the Khmer New Year, which occurs at the same time as the Songkran Festival.

"The number of Cambodians leaving Thailand via the Aranyaprathet immigration checkpoint is reaching about 2,000 a day now," Pol Lt-Colonel Benjapon Rodsawas, deputy immigration chief of Sa Kaew province, said yesterday.

More than 80 per cent of the Cambodian workers living in Thailand will return to their homeland during the Khmer New Year period to reunite with their loved ones.

"It's an important occasion. They see [the New Year festival] as a time for the family," he said.

The workers are taking with them nearly Bt10 million a day, which they saved all year for this special occasion.

Some Cambodian gangs prey on their cashed-up compatriots by luring them into unsupervised areas where thugs wait nearby to mug them, he added.

The chief of Cambodia's Poipet immigration office has alerted his Thai counterparts about the problem and asked for help in arresting members of such gangs on the Thai side.

Four Cambodians were arrested by the Thai military in Sa Kaew yesterday in two such cases as they were leading many Cambodian workers to unauthorised border passes.

These suspects have been handed over to Thai police for processing.

The Songkran Festival runs from April 13-15, but many workers have taken extended leave to spend more time with their families.

The Songkran period also beckons Myanmar and Laotian migrant workers back to their homeland.

"I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years.

In Thailand, millions of people will hit the roads during Songkran to visit their hometowns.

Authorities in Nakhon Ratchasima conducted drills yesterday to practice assisting victims of road accidents.

"The drills are necessary to facilitate coordination and test emergency support," said Dr Likit Matrakul, director of Suranaree University of Technology Hospital.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Many-Cambodian-and-other-migrant-workers-heading-h-30257465.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-06

[lee b]

Good luck to them all, work hard and they deserve time off to see there families, I hope they all have great holidays

[NongKhaiKid]

Surely this should read " Tourists take advantage of holidays to visit Thailand's border provinces ".

[Bluespunk]

""I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years."

Really?

What age did she start working here then?

[apetley]

""I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years."

Really?

What age did she start working here then?

I live in Kanchanaburi. Many Burmese teenagers working in the restaurants and hotels.

Wifey got talking with one a while ago who was 12 years old.

Her family sent her into Thailand by herself to find work.

She was fortunate in a way to find the resort that she did as they give her a place to stay and a reasonable wage.

Every month she makes the trip back to the border to hand over her wages to her mum.

[NongKhaiKid]

""I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years."

Really?

What age did she start working here then?

I live in Kanchanaburi. Many Burmese teenagers working in the restaurants and hotels.

Wifey got talking with one a while ago who was 12 years old.

Her family sent her into Thailand by herself to find work.

She was fortunate in a way to find the resort that she did as they give her a place to stay and a reasonable wage.

Every month she makes the trip back to the border to hand over her wages to her mum.

Sad, sick isn't it. So much for the much vaunted asian family values. Make money for the parents is the main value it seems.

[JOC]

>>The workers are taking with them nearly Bt10 million a day, which they saved all year for this special occasion.<<

That is about 5.000 bath a person on average after slaving for a year!!

Something for us to think about, when we hit the keyboard to complain about our petty problems.

Agree with lee in post#2, Hope they enjoy a well deserved holiday!!

[JOC]

""I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years."

Really?

What age did she start working here then?

I live in Kanchanaburi. Many Burmese teenagers working in the restaurants and hotels.

Wifey got talking with one a while ago who was 12 years old.

Her family sent her into Thailand by herself to find work.

She was fortunate in a way to find the resort that she did as they give her a place to stay and a reasonable wage.

Every month she makes the trip back to the border to hand over her wages to her mum.

Sad, sick isn't it. So much for the much vaunted asian family values. Make money for the parents is the main value it seems.

No surprise here, the only way to pay for the pickup truck is to pimp out the daughter.

The only real shame in Thailand is to be poor!!

[Benmart]

""I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years."

Really?

What age did she start working here then?

Age is not necessarily an indicator of past work history, particularly in SE Asia. I'm not in charge of regulating and enforcing Thai labor law.

Perhaps she was working away from home while in her native country, but it really doesn't matter to this reader. I prefer to read and not pick the story apart since I'm not the editor, judge or inquisitor.

[Bluespunk]

""I plan to be away for a month," said an 18-year-old Myanmar waitress at a Japanese restaurant.

She said she would need a long break from work because she had not been back home for many years."

Really?

What age did she start working here then?

Age is not necessarily an indicator of past work history, particularly in SE Asia. I'm not in charge of regulating and enforcing Thai labor law.

Perhaps she was working away from home while in her native country, but it really doesn't matter to this reader. I prefer to read and not pick the story apart since I'm not the editor, judge or inquisitor.

While this reader really doesn't see why it matters if she was working in Burma, Thailand or the dark side of the moon.

No one should at the age of 18 have to say I've been working away from home and this is the first time in many years I've been able to go home.