Construction workers

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Description: Many Burmese migrant workers have landed new jobs in reconstruction work in southwest Thailand, having survived the tsunami. But old moans of low pay and rights abuses remain... "Myint Win relaxes under a coconut palm on a beach in southwest Thailand, enjoying the sea breeze. But he?s not on holiday. Like hundreds of other Burmese in the area, he?s a migrant worker in the army of construction workers beavering to rebuild resorts in areas flattened by the December 26, 2004, tsunami, claiming more than 5,000 lives. Myint Win is just taking a lunch break. The 49-year-old construction worker is on Ban Thantawan beach in Phang Nga province?s Khao Lak area. Beaches in the province were among the worst hit when the tsunami struck. The grim sound of sirens and the sight of bodies littering coastal areas have now been replaced by the hum of reconstruction and new hotels and resorts rising from the debris. Burmese workers like Myint Win, a tractor driver back home, who were also out of work in the tsunami?s immediate aftermath, have found new jobs in the rebuilding frenzy to put southern resorts back on the tourist map. But they still complain of low pay and some human rights abuses because their migrant status leaves them vulnerable. ?By and large, we have all been cheated,? one complains..."
Creator/author: Aung Lwin Oo
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 12
2005-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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