Myanmar worker exodus from Thailand continues

[webfact]

Myanmar worker exodus from country continues 
By The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The number of Myanmar workers heading home via Tak's Mae Sot district has risen to 20,000 since June 23, a day after the new migrant labour law was published in the Royal Gazette, the officials said on Tuesday. 

 

Thai border checkpoint officials are working hard to process workers who don’t have proper travel documents and truck them to their fellow Myanmar nationals. 

 

Myanmar officials had asked Thai officials to send the workers via the Mae Sot-Myawaddy checkpoint rather than allow them to cross over at Ban Tha Art into the Karen minority territory.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30319844

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-04

[Just1Voice]

If this keeps up, who will Thailand factories be able to hire as slave wages?  Who will they hire to pick their fruit and vegetables?  Who will they hire to clean their houses and cut their grass, and wash their cars?  I ask, because Thai sure as hell won't do those things, as it is "beneath them" as the "superior race" to do menial jobs like that. 

[meechai]

5 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

If this keeps up, who will Thailand factories be able to hire as slave wages?  Who will they hire to pick their fruit and vegetables?  Who will they hire to clean their houses and cut their grass, and wash their cars?  I ask, because Thai sure as hell won't do those things, as it is "beneath them" as the "superior race" to do menial jobs like that. 

This ^ is the truth

 

So basically those who thought this ill advised plan out are simply cutting off of their own nose to spite their face

Now they want to retract but the migrants see the writing on the wall & rightfully flee

 

The supposedly uneducated migrant workers have more sense than many who continue to wear the rose colored specs

Edited July 4, 2017 by meechai

[ratcatcher]

Commodities on the move. Impressive.

[khunano]

I really hope not just a few ten thousands of these migrant workers will return to their homelands but hundred thousands of them. Only then will the indigenous populace realise what valuable work these people have been doing that they would never do by themselves. Somnamna....

[Samui Bodoh]

This is the effect of an ill-considered law drawn up in the faint hope of not being on the US watch list for trafficking. 

 

If Thailand wants to have any hope of getting reasonable laws, there must be a drastic change of practice. The reason laws usually take so long to enact is there is a consultation process with stakeholders and experts who usually can tell you the effects BEFORE you do it. Clearly, this process did not occur here.

 

This haste and lack of expertise has created a situation where many lives have been up-ended, economic damage has occurred, and Thailand's reputation has taken another hit.

 

All for no good reason.

 

Well Done

 

[Rhys]

.... Are English teachers packing?

[Just1Voice]

27 minutes ago, Rhys said:

.... Are English teachers packing?

I know a few who should. lol

 

[rkidlad]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

This is the effect of an ill-considered law drawn up in the faint hope of not being on the US watch list for trafficking. 

 

If Thailand wants to have any hope of getting reasonable laws, there must be a drastic change of practice. The reason laws usually take so long to enact is there is a consultation process with stakeholders and experts who usually can tell you the effects BEFORE you do it. Clearly, this process did not occur here.

 

This haste and lack of expertise has created a situation where many lives have been up-ended, economic damage has occurred, and Thailand's reputation has taken another hit.

 

All for no good reason.

 

Well Done

 

Not true. A few people in power with inferiority complexes got an ego boost from being told how fabulous they were after coming up with these ideas. Even if it only lasted 24 hours, they'd definitely say it was worth it. 

Edited July 4, 2017 by rkidlad

[leeneeds]

A forced reunion with families and friends,

may be good for most, down side is their money lost,and

wasted,  due  to the incompetent power brokers, that continue to frustrate

all citizens from foreign countries my self included.

[GarryP]

2 hours ago, meechai said:

This ^ is the truth

 

So basically those who thought this ill advised plan out are simply cutting off of their own nose to spite their face

Now they want to retract but the migrants see the writing on the wall & rightfully flee

 

The supposedly uneducated migrant workers have more sense than many who continue to wear the rose colored specs

I think you mean they have more sense than those men in green with their inflated egos , who again issue a new law which has to be overridden by section 44 due to gross incompetence.  You could not make this stuff up.   

[jaiyen]

That will put a stop to all (or is that most) Over priced shoddy built condos for a while. The law will change later to bring them back to build the fantastic new Observation Tower. 

[dunroaming]

The opportunities in Burma are much better than they ever have been.  Roads, airports and hotels being built in expectation of increased tourist numbers while Thailand becomes ever more reliant on the Chinese to sure up their own tourism market.

[dunroaming]

3 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

That will put a stop to all (or is that most) Over priced shoddy built condos for a while. The law will change later to bring them back to build the fantastic new Observation Tower. 

I have been involved in building a few homes in Thailand and I always used Burmese workers as their skill levels were far better than the Thai equivalents and man for man they work harder.  To stop the shoddy built condos you need to look to the owners and managers who always go with the cheapest materials and unskilled labour. 

[FredNL]

A guy that I know is completely renovating his house in Bangkok. That was going on for several weeks now and it was planned to have it finished by September.  

 

For 2 weeks now, nobody showed up and the Thai contractor told him that his skilled labourers went back to Myanmar due to visa problems. He told the guy that the renovation could not be finished by September as planned and that he had to hire skilled locals that are 5 times as expensive.

 

The 2 million renovation (75% paid) will now be done for 5 million THB, the contractor told him and asked him to pay 3 million in advance and half a million when the jobs is done...

 

It sure looks like a scam to me.

[connda]

1 hour ago, FredNL said:

A guy that I know is completely renovating his house in Bangkok. That was going on for several weeks now and it was planned to have it finished by September.  

 

For 2 weeks now, nobody showed up and the Thai contractor told him that his skilled labourers went back to Myanmar due to visa problems. He told the guy that the renovation could not be finished by September as planned and that he had to hire skilled locals that are 5 times as expensive.

 

The 2 million renovation (75% paid) will now be done for 5 million THB, the contractor told him and asked him to pay 3 million in advance and half a million when the jobs is done...

 

It sure looks like a scam to me.

Which is why one should use contracts for any sizeable building project, even here in the Land of Silliness.  Contract law is pretty internationalize.  Thais would not be able to do business globally if it wasn't.  It's pretty silly to 'contract' a house without a contract.  

[KIWIBATCH]

1 hour ago, FredNL said:

A guy that I know is completely renovating his house in Bangkok. That was going on for several weeks now and it was planned to have it finished by September.  

 

For 2 weeks now, nobody showed up and the Thai contractor told him that his skilled labourers went back to Myanmar due to visa problems. He told the guy that the renovation could not be finished by September as planned and that he had to hire skilled locals that are 5 times as expensive.

 

The 2 million renovation (75% paid) will now be done for 5 million THB, the contractor told him and asked him to pay 3 million in advance and half a million when the jobs is done...

 

It sure looks like a scam to me.

+1.......it sure does...skilled locals...I call BS on this......5 times more expensive BS also (as stated by the Thai contractor).....and the thai " skilled" locals will be 5 times slower

 

This badly thought out Article 44 being used to try and "fix" the problem of Visa's and work problems is going to have a  downstream effect on Thai businesses financially with the exodus of the workers.

 

Business that supply materials and equipment for construction work......food sellers.....7/11's etc....markets....Dept stores.......and the list goes on.

These workers earnt a wage (albiet a low wage) but at the end of the day they still purchased the basics to live on.

 

Whatever happened to the spirit of the ASEAN Community....I thought I read somewhere amongst it's intentions...that workers from those countries belonging to the ASEAN community had  considerable less hoops to jump through to enable them to work in one of the member ASEAN countries.

 

These workers could have been instead been given (say)100 days to front up with the required paperwork whilst they continued to work in Thailand, together with their employers at the same time, sorting out and acquiring the work permits.

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2017 by KIWIBATCH

[dunroaming]

2 hours ago, FredNL said:

A guy that I know is completely renovating his house in Bangkok. That was going on for several weeks now and it was planned to have it finished by September.  

 

For 2 weeks now, nobody showed up and the Thai contractor told him that his skilled labourers went back to Myanmar due to visa problems. He told the guy that the renovation could not be finished by September as planned and that he had to hire skilled locals that are 5 times as expensive.

 

The 2 million renovation (75% paid) will now be done for 5 million THB, the contractor told him and asked him to pay 3 million in advance and half a million when the jobs is done...

 

It sure looks like a scam to me.

I have been involved in building several houses in Thailand (some for me and involvement in others not directly for me) and I can tell you it is a scam.  5 times as expensive is nonsense and the biggest problem will be getting Thai's with the same skill levels that can stay sober long enough to do a days work.  There are some simple guidelines to follow and one is to never pay a "daily rate".  If the contractor has a problem with his workforce then he has to fix it within the agreed price.  Stage the payments as you go along which should allow for the buying of the materials (that you should check) and the wage bill for the workers.  That way you are never overly exposed.  Regularly check the progress and make sure they keeping to the spec.  If not then make them put it right before continuing.  Having a good site manager and an architect who is pro-active is essential.  It can be done but you have to keep on top of it every day otherwise it will probably go pear shaped and who wants to live in a pear shaped house!

[Nowisee]

I will miss seeing those Burmese cuties in their tight black pants and big hats wiring rebar at the construction sites... 

 

On a serious note... Good luck and fortune the Burmese that had to leave for capital preservation.  

Good luck thailand, you have screwed yourself hard and I really hope you crash and burn.  The work force that the Burmese filled will never be filled by thais... no way.   

[trainman34014]

I hope most of them never come back as it's time Thai's learned to do their own dirty work instead of using slaves to do it.

[dunroaming]

21 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

I hope most of them never come back as it's time Thai's learned to do their own dirty work instead of using slaves to do it.

I think there will be considerable change in the future with Burma being like Thailand was years ago when it was an adventure to go there.  You will probably find that the Burmese shortfall will be (to some extent) filled by the Cambodians but they will need to improve their work skills considerably to match the Burmese.

[Thongkorn]

11 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

If this keeps up, who will Thailand factories be able to hire as slave wages?  Who will they hire to pick their fruit and vegetables?  Who will they hire to clean their houses and cut their grass, and wash their cars?  I ask, because Thai sure as hell won't do those things, as it is "beneath them" as the "superior race" to do menial jobs like that. 

I think the Polish will do because they are leaving the Uk ,  Most of the Hard work and Building thats being done in Thailand is done by the Burmese, 

[anon4546543]

Last week, the van I had hired to travel to Sa Keow was pulled over by migration police. Everyone produced

their ID. My passport was waved away. I was chastised for not wearing a seat belt. (it was broken, I always wear one)

They did not check the ID of the Cambodian driver. He was afraid of course, I am sure they knew he was Cambodian.

I employ (sorry, my wife employs) this Cambodian man from time to time. He is a jack of all trades and a very good one.

But the Thais are also very good around here. Prices (400 baht for 8 hours work) are very low. If you feel you are being ripped off

by contractors, do as is suggested above. Have a firm contract for a completed price or change contractors. Let the buyer beware especially applies here. 

[retarius]

On July 4, 2017 at 8:50 PM, dunroaming said:

I have been involved in building several houses in Thailand (some for me and involvement in others not directly for me) and I can tell you it is a scam.  5 times as expensive is nonsense and the biggest problem will be getting Thai's with the same skill levels that can stay sober long enough to do a days work.  There are some simple guidelines to follow and one is to never pay a "daily rate".  If the contractor has a problem with his workforce then he has to fix it within the agreed price.  Stage the payments as you go along which should allow for the buying of the materials (that you should check) and the wage bill for the workers.  That way you are never overly exposed.  Regularly check the progress and make sure they keeping to the spec.  If not then make them put it right before continuing.  Having a good site manager and an architect who is pro-active is essential.  It can be done but you have to keep on top of it every day otherwise it will probably go pear shaped and who wants to live in a pear shaped house!

Excellent advice. Sadly I didn't follow it when I built my house.

[YetAnother]

On 7/4/2017 at 0:26 PM, Just1Voice said:

If this keeps up, who will Thailand factories be able to hire as slave wages?  Who will they hire to pick their fruit and vegetables?  Who will they hire to clean their houses and cut their grass, and wash their cars?  I ask, because Thai sure as hell won't do those things, as it is "beneath them" as the "superior race" to do menial jobs like that. 

boy do we think different of them than they do

[the guest]

I hope the migrants don't come back, then Thailand will learn the hard way, what it is like to devalue such labour and treat people like slaves. 

[Ivor Edwards]

This was predicted many months ago, as was the general and accelerating breakdown in law and order. It will get a lot worse after October. Many of the foreign workers that Thailand depends upon to do the work Thais don't want, will leave. Maybe they'll come back but this is the second Thai balls-up in regard to foreign workers, so maybe they won't.

 

Give it 3 years or so: the Thai sense of superiority in SE Asia will have evaporated, and Thailand will be visible to all as a horrible example of what happens when your feet are too big enough for your boots, but fit nicely into your mouth. Increasingly it seems like we are all watching a country in serious decline. Of course there will be the nay-sayers but that's how it seems to me right now.

[Ivor Edwards]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

Excellent advice. Sadly I didn't follow it when I built my house.

 

Nor me. Some education is expensive, and learning to understand Thais and their culture seems right at the top of the list.

[Thongkorn]

On 7/4/2017 at 4:10 PM, trainman34014 said:

I hope most of them never come back as it's time Thai's learned to do their own dirty work instead of using slaves to do it.

 The Burmese Economy is booming, why should they come back, Countries are queuing up to invest in Myanmar.

[observer90210]

The real wake-up call will start when the expats, fed up the A-O-L-Ma-xyz level visa hassles,

or fed up in being overcharged for everything and nothing,

start to line up at Suvarnabhumi, [with their cash] and commence leaving Thailand for good....

 

 

Edited July 7, 2017 by observer90210