A second wave of Covid-19 infections in Thailand is taking a serious toll on migrant workers from Myanmar, as they face not only health risks and economic losses, but also discrimination from their hosts. 

An outbreak that began in Samut Sakhon province, west of the capital Bangkok, in mid-December has since spread to 54 of the country’s 76 provinces. Of these, 28 were declared pandemic “red zones” on January 5.

According to the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the country had 10,053 confirmed cases as of January 9. This compares with just over 6,000 cases reported during the first wave.

The CCSA figures don’t indicate how many Myanmar workers are among the infected, but Thai-based Myanmar civil society groups say the number is at least 1,700, most of them in Samut Sakhon.

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Like many other Myanmar nationals living in Samut Sakhon, 41-year-old Aung Moe works in Mahachai, a district known for its seafood industry. He and his 30-year-old wife and nine-month-old daughter have all been diagnosed with Covid-19. 

On December 27, his wife became the first in the family to be admitted to Samut Sakhon Hospital with the disease. Their daughter, who became seriously ill on January 1, was tested for the virus and taken to the hospital five days later.

More than 4,000 Myanmar migrants work at the canning plant where Aung Moe is employed. He was the first there to contract Covid-19, although other cases had been reported in nearby factories.  

“Myanmar people have very low status here,” said Aung Moe, who comes from Dawei township. “We can’t count on support. We will be taken to the hospital only when our condition is really bad.” 

Aung Moe and his wife work legally in Samut Sakhon, which has about 500,000 workers from Myanmar employed in its port, seafood markets, and processing plants, many of them illegally.

“Thai people look at us with fear,” said Saw Lin Aung, the founder of Labour Hittai, a group that helps Myanmar workers in Thailand. “That is the most basic form of discrimination.”

A field hospital has been set up for infected migrants in Mahachai’s shrimp market in an effort to limit transmission of the disease, but local authorities say capacity needs to be greatly expanded.

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On January 4, tempers flared when around 30 Myanmar patients were discharged from the hospital and taken to a shopping mall that had been closed due to the pandemic.

The CCSA estimates that if efforts to contain the virus are not successful, infections could rise to 18,000 a day in January.

Meanwhile, Myanmar migrant workers are coming under increasing pressure due to the perception that they are responsible for the recent outbreak.

“Thai people look at us with fear,” said Saw Lin Aung, the founder of Labour Hittai, a group that helps Myanmar workers in Thailand. “That is the most basic form of discrimination.”

Speaking at a press conference on January 7, CCSA spokesperson Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said that this attitude was impeding the response to the crisis.

“Local people do not accept the construction of a hospital in Samut Sakhon to accommodate Myanmar migrant workers. This is sad,” he said.

“When we try to build in a neighbouring district, people there also lodge protests,” he added.

However, cooperation between the governments of Thailand and Myanmar has helped to mitigate the severity of the situation facing migrant workers, said Aung Kyaw, the chairman of the Samut Sakhon-based Myanmar Migrant Workers' Rights Network.

He said he thanked the Thai government and the Myanmar embassy for following their pandemic code of conduct and protecting Myanmar nationals in Thailand.

“I have no income because I can’t work. But I can survive because there are many people who come to donate food,” said Ko Thet, a migrant worker in Mahachai.

The two sides should continue their cooperation in support of migrant workers after the Covid-19 outbreak, he added.

While the number of new cases continues to rise in central Thailand, including Samut Sakhon, the infection rate has not reached alarming levels in other parts of the country.

Kyaw Thu Moe, a Myanmar labour official based in Chiang Mai, said the northern Thai city remains relatively unaffected by the pandemic.

“Chiang Mai is calm and peaceful for the time being. The main infection areas are Mahachai and Bangkok and neighbouring areas. The coronavirus has not infected any Myanmar people in Chiang Mai,” he said.

So far, Myanmar citizens living in the southern Thai port city of Ranong, opposite Kawthaung in Tanintharyi region, also appear to be safe, according to Htet Wai Phyo, a labour official with the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok.

More than 300 Myanmar workers were tested for the virus in the Ranong area on January 6. 

Thai healthcare workers in personal protective equipment test Myanmar migrant workers for Covid-19 in the first week of January 2021. (Photo: Supplied)

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Htet Wai Phyo told Myanmar Now that the embassy’s focus was still on Mahachai, where Myanmar migrants forced out of work by the closure of markets and factories find themselves in a difficult situation. He said the embassy was meeting with employers to speak on behalf of workers.

Ko Thet, a migrant who lives near the shrimp market, said that he and five other members of his family, who all tested negative for the virus on December 30, have lost both their livelihoods and their freedom due to pandemic restrictions.

With both the market and the streets around it closed, he and his family are now completely dependent on others to provide for their basic needs.

“I have no income because I can’t work. But I can survive because there are many people who come to donate food,” he said.

To ease the pressure that many migrants are feeling, the Thai government announced on January 3 that it would issue special permits to allow workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos to stay in the country until February 13, 2023.

To qualify, they must register online between January 15 and February 13 and find jobs before September 13.

But with most struggling just to meet their daily expenses, the only real hope for relief will come when the pandemic is finally brought under control, said Saw Lin Aung of Labour Hittai. 

If the crisis lasts too long, some may never recover from the lasting damage that Covid-19 has caused, he said.