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Coronavirus pandemic
This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

In Thailand, coronavirus outbreak among migrant workers highlights rampant people smuggling

  • A growing cluster of cases has been detected in Samut Sakhon province, home to around 400,000 migrant workers who are mostly from Myanmar
  • Experts say efforts to register workers and trace infections are being undermined by smugglers taking advantage of migrants desperate for work

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Migrant workers and their families are carried in trucks to a field hospital for Covid-19 patents in Samut Sakhon on January 4. Photo: AP
Jitsiree Thongnoi
The Central Shrimp Market – a wholesale centre in Samut Sakhon province, about an hour’s drive southwest of Bangkok – was where Thailand’s most recent Covid-19 cluster emerged in mid-December. Today, the market and nearby blocks of migrant worker dormitories are under lockdown, cordoned off by fences and barbed wire, and guarded round the clock by security officials.
In an echo of the outbreaks in Singapore and Malaysia, where migrant workers bore the brunt of infections as well as blame for them, up to 10,000 migrant workers working in the market and living in the area have been prevented from going about their daily lives until the end of this month. Every day, NGOs and government officials bring food donations, water and other necessities for them, but they remain out of work and are scrambling to pay rent – usually 1,600-4,000 baht (US$53-US$133) for a room shared with three or more people.

On Thursday, tougher measures to screen travelling were imposed in Samut Sakhon and four other provinces in Thailand’s east. Those seeking to enter or leave the areas must declare their transport routes and vehicles. They are advised to travel only when absolutely necessary and carry a letter of permission or face fines.

Of Thailand’s more than 9,300 Covid-19 cases, over 3,000 have been detected in the province since December 15. The health ministry on Wednesday confirmed over 900 infections at a canned tuna factory there, while another major seafood firm the same day said it had found 69 cases among workers in various plants. More testing will be conducted at around 100 other factories where there are more than 500 workers.

Since the outbreak in Samut Sakhon, which is home to around 400,000 migrant workers, mostly from Myanmar , the community has been accused of importing Covid-19 into Thailand, even though most of them have remained in the country since the lockdown in March last year.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha last month said workers from Myanmar who had “snuck in and out” of Thailand were behind the cluster, and raised the prospect that officials had helped them cross the border.

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Thailand testing more than 10,000 for Covid-19 after record daily spike of coronavirus cases

Thailand testing more than 10,000 for Covid-19 after record daily spike of coronavirus cases

While rights groups have pointed out that low-paid, marginalised migrants work and live in precarious conditions that are conducive to the spread of the virus, and have slammed finger-pointing from officials including Prayuth, the outbreak has highlighted rampant migrant smuggling and the corruption that perpetuates it.

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