Burmese in Thailand ( th, ชาวพม่าในไทย, my, ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံရှိမြန်မာများ) constitute Thailand's largest migrant population. According to the

2014 Myanmar Census Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

, 1,418,472 former Burmese residents, including 812,798 men and 605,674 women, were living in Thailand, constituting about 70% of Burma's overseas population. Burmese in Thailand tend to fall into three categories: professional migrants working in the business or professional sectors, laborers working in low-skilled professions, and refugees fleeing conflict. Migrant workers tend to hold low-skilled jobs in the fishing and seafood processing, construction, garment, and domestic service industries.

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

estimates that the average annual remittances from Thailand to Burma exceed . The movement of Burmese nationals into Thailand began in the 1970s, following the

1962 Burmese coup d'état The 1962 Burmese coup d'état on 2 March 1962 marked the beginning of one-party rule and the political dominance of the army in Burma (now Myanmar) which spanned the course of 26 years. In the coup, the military replaced the civilian AFPFL-g ...

and resulting economic decline from implementation of the Burmese Way to Socialism, and ongoing civil conflicts. Burmese migrants contribute tremendously to the Thai economy, contributing between 5 and 6.2% of Thailand's GDP. Samut Sakhon province is home to Thailand's largest Burmese migrant community, representing about 200,000 Burmese migrants. Other large Burmese communities reside in Mae Sot,

Ranong Ranong ( th, ระนองPronunciation) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong District. The town covers completely the area of the ''tambon'' Khao Niwet (เขานิเ� ...

, In 2003, the Thai and Burmese governments signed a memorandum of understanding to formally recognize this labor migration flow and legalize migration through a government program to recruit workers directly from Burma, and to use a nationality verification process whereby migrant workers receive a temporary passport, an identity certificate, a visa to remain in Thailand for two years, and a change of work status to legal. There are also roughly 150,000 Burmese refugees living at 9 official camps on the Thai–Burmese border. The largest such camp is

Mae La refugee camp Mae La, Beh klaw (alternatively spelled Maela),( ksw, မဲၣ်လးဒဲကဝီၤ, ဘဲကျီး) is a refugee camp in Thailand. It was established in 1984 in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province in the Dawna Range area and hous ...

. In 2014, the Thai government announced plans to repatriate Burmese refugees who have been living in border camps for the past 2 decades.

References

External links

Myanmar Migrants to Thailand: Economic Analysis and Implications for the Development of Myanmar
{{Ethnic groups in Thailand Ethnic groups in Thailand

See also

References

External links