"The building is a classroom, and the children are wearing school uniforms – green pants, white shirts. Some of the students clasp their hands together with the traditional “wai”, and say “Sah-Wah-Dee Khrap” as one. Many of the children are fluent in Thai, but none of their parents were born in Thailand. They are all kids from Myanmar parents working in the Mahar Chai district, which is home to the biggest fish market in the country. There are just under 1.5 million Myanmar workers living in Thailand, according to the official 2014 census. Some work in retail and hospitality in areas like Phuket and Bangkok, whilst others make a living in factories or doing fisheries work, such as those in Mahar Chai. Some have been living in Thailand for over 2 decades. Before the Thaksin Shinawatra government in the late 2000s, migrant parents had a hard time finding schools for their kids. Options were limited, without a Thai identity card, until NGOs started offering schools and tuition around 10 years ago. Even then, when kids were able to study in Thailand, very few were able to pursue their education when they returned to Myanmar, having missed out on the local curriculum.