She ran out of the factory, scrambled up a wall and jumped to the other side, a fugitive from the police. She escaped, but hurt her back and hip when she hit the ground—little realizing how that would affect her life.
Khin Maw Lwin, a 37-year-old Burmese migrant, was among a group of illegal workers who fled when Thai police raided the garment factory were they were employed, Northstar Apparel Co Ltd in Mae Sot, the Thai border town opposite Burma’s Myawaddy.
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Despite her ordeal, her story is typical for Mae Sot, where thousands of Burmese migrants work illegally in the town’s factories.
Khim Maw Lwin told her story lying on her side on a mat in a small room.
After eluding the police she returned to work in the same factory, but two months later was arrested in another police raid. She was detained by Mae Sot police for two weeks and then deported to Burma.
Confinement in a bare, concrete-floored cell, with not even a bed to sleep on, took its painful toll on her injured back and hip.
Shortly after being deported she slipped back to Mae Sot, obtained a work permit and a job at her earlier employer, Northstar Apparel. Her back and hip still troubled her, and three years ago she found she could move only with difficulty.
When she had difficulty sitting at her factory sewing machine from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m., she sought help at Mae Sot Hospital. Doctors told her they suspected she was suffering from bone tuberculosis.
Two weeks treatment brought no relief, but a consultation and second opinion at a private hospital were way beyond her budget. She couldn’t even afford the 70 baht (US $1.10) motorcycle taxi fare to consultations and treatment at Mae Sot Hospital.
She inevitably lost her job and now survives through the help of a close friend,
Myint Myint.
Myint Myint entered with a rice bowl as Khin Maw Lwin was telling her story. The two share Myint Myint’s rice allowance provided by her employer.
Myint Myint pays the 800 baht ($21) monthly rent for Khin Maw Lwin’s room. “I’m in debt,” she said.
Myint Myint shares her monthly wages of about 3,000 baht ($81) a month with Khin Maw Lwin but it’s hardly enough to keep them both alive. When they were both working, they could send at least 50,000 kyat ($40) monthly to their families in Burma.
Myint Myint said she and Khin Maw Lwin had worked together for six years in the garment factory Moon Crab Co Ltd, in Shwepyithar township in Rangoon, before migrating to Mae Sot. They came to Mae Sot together believing they could make enough money to invest in a small business of their own.
That aim now seems very distant indeed. “The dream I had before coming here has gone now,” said Khin Maw Lwin, sadly.
