SUNS 4339 Monday 7 December 1998
THAILAND: EXPORTING UNEMPLOYMENT
Chiang Mai, Thailand, Dec 4 (IPS/Teena Amrit Gill) -- Five years ago, Veerapong Seevichaiwong returned to Thailand after a long stint as an iron welder in Saudi Arabia, and swore never to work abroad again.
The times were good then, and he could afford to relax. But as the Thai economy throws thousands out of jobs, the 39-year-old is again looking for work overseas.
"In this time of crisis things are not so good. I do not want to go abroad again to work, but I have to go for my children, for their education. It is very difficult to make enough money working in Thailand," says Veerapong.
It is a sentiment echoed by thousands of other Thais who are now desperately trying to find jobs overseas to improve their incomes and support their families.
For many, going to Singapore, Taiwan or Japan is a better option than staying home, even if fallout from Asia's recession is also dampening demand for foreign labour in these countries.
Even if they do get a job in Thailand, they can barely earn between 2.7 and 5.5 dollars a day. Abroad, they can earn more than 19 dollars a day.
According to official estimates the number of jobless people in Thailand is expected to rise to two million by the end of 1998, accounting for 6 percent of the country's workforce.
Realising the potential that sending workers abroad has for easing growing unemployment at home, the Thai government too has encouraged such migration.
The ministry of labour and social welfare has offered to set up legal counselling centres and arrange loans for Thais going abroad to work and has also lobbied foreign governments to find them jobs.
The ministry has offered training in various skills and the English language for Thai labourers before sending them to work abroad.
Countries targeted as potential places of employment for Thais are Japan, Taiwan and the Middle East. The number of Thai overseas workers, however, has come down in recent years as the economy progressed. In 1997, the figure was 152,071, compared to 202,296 in 1995 and 185,436
in 1996.
The Thai government's interest in sending workers abroad also stems from the fact that their remittances are a key addition to foreign exchange reserves.
The Bank of Thailand says overseas workers sent $621 million home via commercial banks in 1997. The figure was even higher at $1.15 billion in 1995, and $1.3 billion in 1996.
Ironically, the emphasis of Thai policymakers on sending their labour abroad comes when they are cracking down on migrants from neighbouring countries working inside Thailand.
Of the estimated one million migrants in Thailand, all of whom are "illegal", more than 800,000 come from Burma, usually by foot across the porous Thai-Burma border.
Most are actually more 'refugees' than migrants, primarily from ethnic minority groups along the volatile border, such as Karen, Shan and Lisu, fleeing human rights abuses in Burma.
"The situation is quite dire for Burmese migrant workers. Many have lost their jobs, others have not been paid wages. Apart from the economic crisis there has also been the crackdown by the police,
because of the (Thai government's) idea of sending back the Burmese to make way for Thais," says Pipa Curwen, an NGO activist working among Burmese refugees based in Thailand.
Most Burmese in Thailand work in the fisheries, construction and agricultural sectors, where few Thais choose to work.
While most Burmese have not yet been pushed back across the border, they are highly vulnerable to threats of deportation by local authorities. Since Thai authorities refuse to recognise them as
refugees they have no political rights, and because they are mostly illegal migrants, they have no legal standing either.
Thailand has refused to ratify the United Nations 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. Only nine countries have ratified it, when 20
ratifications are needed for it to enter into force.
Meantime, Thai companies pay migrant workers barely half the officially mandated minimum wages paid to Thais. Company managements also get away without allowing them any health benefits or educational facilities for their children.
Though the situation is not as precarious for migrant workers from other countries like India and Bangladesh, they have also been severely affected by the collapse of the Thai economy.
Some 50,000 migrant workers from the South Asian subcontinent work as travelling salesmen, or run food stalls or businesses in the bustling "little India" of Bangkok, known as Pahurat.
"Thailand's crackdown on migrant labour is unfortunate because as a labour-exporting country it should realise that its own people are likely to be subject to such treatment overseas," pointed out an Asian diplomat based in Bangkok.
Following the Asian crisis many other countries have started deporting foreign workers, often resorting to strong arm tactics.
According to media reports, South Korea, once a magnet for job seekers, has already expelled at least 10,000 migrant workers. Seoul hopes to push out over 230,000 migrants, including 146,000 illegal workers by the end of 1998.
Since the beginning of the economic crisis last year, more than 600,000 South Koreans have lost their jobs.
Since early last year Malaysia too has been expelling much of its foreign workforce, especially those from Bangladesh and India. In a gesture of goodwill however Malaysia has been less harsh with migrant workers from Indonesia, economically and politically the worst affected Asian country so far.
The Malaysian government's controls on taking foreign currency out of the country has however hurt the incomes of thousands of Thais working in Malaysia.
As Asia's crisis deepens, tensions between countries over the their workers in foreign lands are also bound to increase -- and test the many pledges of friendship Asian nations have made in past decades.