Migrants’ hopes and fears in Little Myanmar
Thai employers are reluctant to attract media coverage focusing on the region’s docks, markets or construction sites; workers told The Irrawaddy that if they were discovered as having contributed to a story on Little Myanmar, they feared they would be later fired. Wandering through Samut Sakhon, just southwest of Bangkok, the image of people wearing the longyi or tamein while speaking Burmese could make a stranger feel as though they are in Yangon, rather than a Thai city. Those who migrate to the region are often motivated by the hope of earning better salaries. The number of migrant workers in Thailand is estimated at between 3 and 4 million, but less than half are officially registered.
