[FEATURE] Suebsakun Kidnukorn: The Power of Voluntarism, from Charity to Empowerment, Building Solidarity with Migrants in Chiang Rai
“It was during the first year of COVID-19 that the Thai government had a lockdown and border closure policy. This affected migrant workers who were forced to leave the country without being paid, with no money to buy food. Some of them could not cross the border to go back to their hometown. One day, my friend, Kyaw Khaing, a migrant worker, called me to look at the dormitories of Myanmar workers in the city,” said Suebsakun Kidnukorn (51), or Tok as his friends and colleagues call him, a lecturer from the School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
“Then, with the help of a journalist who took a photo and posted it on Facebook, we made a call for donations. It was the first fundraising appeal by a group of migrant workers in Thailand. And we were asked to go to the military office, and I went,” Tok continued. He then explained that they started their work in the office called the “Chiang Rai Migrant Workers’ Aid Centre”. It was set up in the area where the migrant workers’ dormitory he visited first was located.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Tok also started to work with Bebesea as one of the researchers of our collective knowledge building, which was later published as Repression and Resilience: COVID-19 Response Measures and Migrant Workers’ Rights in Major East and Southeast Asian Destinations (2020). The study, looking at the impacts of the pandemic during its early months on the situations of migrant workers, shows that building solidarity with migrant workers became one of the biggest challenges due to public health protection measures. States imposed various kinds of public health measures for their citizens to comply with, such as physical distancing, wearing masks, working and schooling from home, as well as lockdown policies, travel bans, or restrictions. For example, a public gathering to express solidarity and support for one another could be considered a breach of public health protocols. One of the most vulnerable groups facing these challenges were migrant workers in destination countries. This included Myanmar workers in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Thailand was the first country outside of China to report a confirmed case of COVID-19 on 13 January 2020, as documented by the WHO. The first case of local transmission was detected two weeks later on 31 January 2020. On 17 March 2020, the cabinet approved a number of emergency measures, including the 14-day closure of schools, universities, entertainment, and sports venues in Greater Bangkok and postponing Songkran, the traditional New Year festival, usually celebrated in April. The government also announced that provincial governors and communicable disease committees should consider suspending entertainment, sports and trade events, and religious and cultural activities in their provinces.
The Migrant Workers’ Aid Centre in Chiang Rai had gradually evolved from a charity supporting the needs of migrant workers who were negatively impacted by the closure policy to a workers’ mutual-support and cultural centre, where migrant workers and their families can receive assistance with various aspects of their lives in Chiang Rai, including providing children from Myanmar opportunities to learn about Thai culture and languages and work together on cultural exchanges and events such as the Kathina celebration. Tok shared that more and more Thai citizens, government officials, and universities are paying attention to the issues of migrant workers in Chiang Rai. Every year, the Faculty of Medicine invites Tok to give a public lecture to all of their medical students about the community of migrant workers in Chiang Rai.
According to him, so far, there are about 300 students from Myanmar who have signed up for language classes at the centre. In the future, Tok would like to see the organisation restructured. There is a need for more cooperation with the local government, students, and young people. It is not yet registered under Thai law.
“We work and run the centre on a voluntary basis. We also teach Thai and English to Myanmar workers in cooperation with Thai NGOs. Especially for the children, we want to build a multicultural understanding to see the differences and similarities between Myanmar and Thailand. The English language will give them good opportunities in the future,” Tok added.