Transnational Migrant Workers and Ethnic Bias Hatred Toward “Othering” in Thai Society as an Obstacle to Migrant Labor Protection

Abstract

This article has an important purpose in reflecting the Thai social landscape with changes in production technology and changes in population structure, which have resulted in a decrease in the proportion of labor, which is important for driving Thai economic development. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on migrant workers in the CLM countries, which include Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. However, hatred and prejudice against migrant workers are obstacles to protecting labor rights from the perspective of dividing “Thais” and “others” who are seen as snatching away certain “identities” from Thai society, which developed and resulted from nationalism which began to form with the era of the modern state. This leads to the view of migrant workers who have ethnic, linguistic, and cultural differences as others in Thai society, with an inferior status and as a threat to Thai society. Although the government, media and civil society have attempted to push issues related to the protection of migrant workers' rights in the past, they have encountered various problems. Such as, the government is facing problems of lack of good governance in its operations regarding migrant workers. Some media outlets are irresponsible about their content and focus on creating sensational content that perpetuates stereotypes and biases, and civil society lacks involvement in scrutinizing government performance. The team therefore has policy recommendations to solve the problem of public governance, including consideration of granting rights to establish labor unions and promoting the integration between all sectors to be a space for learning and exchanging cultures amidst diversity to develop Thai society into a quality society that embraces diversity equally.