Xenophobia, particularly anti-Burmese sentiment, is spreading in the past few months, particularly on social media in Thailand. Concerned Thai citizens should pause and think as to how we can be part of the solution in mitigating, if not neutralising, such negative bias. If not handled properly and in a timely fashion, the situation could become more toxic and affect not just the relations between the people of the two neighbouring nations but Thai society as well.
When I interviewed Ms Onravee Taengmeesang, a Thai activist who has been working for over a decade to promote warmer ties between people of the two nations, on my weekly Thai-language video programme for Khaosod Thai on Friday, it want greeted by over 1,600 comments on FB, the majority of them expressing dissatisfaction, bias, if not hatred and phobia towards people from Myanmar in Thailand.
“Myanmar is swallowing up Thailand…,” wrote FB user Paiboon Arunthanawanich, in the comment section following the programme. “[Our] medicare budget has to be shared with these aliens. Burmese sell goods in competition with Thais. They bring in Burmese to work here. Look at the places where Thais used to work before… it’s now full of aliens… Then they stage protests, they take away Thai jobs… These problems need to be quickly fixed…”
“Even the world’s Number 1 superpower, America, couldn’t handle migrants. Every country in Europe is beginning to review their policies towards aliens. Local people come first: the national budget, medicine, medical doctors, hospitals, paid by Thai tax payers must first be catered for the Thai people. Those blind optimists and academics should take the 75,000 refugees in and care for them at home,” wrote another comment, by FB user Numnakhon Wanlek.
“Thailand has become a colony of Myanmar,” opined FB user Tao-poch Mahachai. “Thais and aliens have the same social security. If there’s no laws forbidding foreigners from engaging in certain professions, it would have been the end of the Thai people.”
These sentiments are no longer rare. In fact they are rather widespread on social media and in casual conversations on the streets.
These Thais have lost sight of the fact that most of the low-paying jobs are no longer attractive to Thais and the vast majority of the migrant workers from Myanmar are doing them and help drive the Thai economy. Without them, the Thai economy will almost literally grind to a halt as they work as factory workers, waiters, waitresses, maids, construction workers, trawler boat crew, shop assistants, gardeners and more.
Those working in the formal sector also pay tax and thus are entitled to social security and basic medical care. We should remind ourselves that Thailand is also a nation of immigrants. Many Thais today, count their ancestors from China, India, Pakistan, and beyond. There is no reason why we cannot handle the current 3 to 6 million or so migrant workers from Myanmar. (six million is an estimate taking in those not registered.)
In fact, we should strive harder to integrate them, especially for those wanting to become Thai – or at least ensure that their children are not alienated. It is not a zero-sum game and when considering that the Thai population is declining, it makes sense to welcome them and make them feel at home. In the future, when Myanmar returns to normalcy, these people will also serve as a bridge between our two nations, fostering closer economic, cultural and political ties.
If we do not want more to migrate and work here, we can perhaps pressure the Thai government to be more proactive and effective and help to bring about the end of the civil war in Myanmar. This is something that successive Thai governments have failed over the past four years since the military coup in Myanmar.
Thailand, as an immediate neighbour of Myanmar with over 2,000 kilometres of shared border, also has the moral obligation to care for those in need, flee from wars, and shall continue to do so, with or without the help of other nations. It is now up to concerned Thais to wake up and engage with their fellow citizens who have become xenophobic through dialogue, debate, deliberation, and to avoid the kingdom from plunging deeper into the path of xenophobia.
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