VZCZCXRO9813
RR RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0090/01 1771030
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261030Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1083
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1165

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000090 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, DRL AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SMIG SOCI ECON ELAB SCUL ECPS PROP TH BM
SUBJECT: SPEAKERS HIGHLIGHT MIGRANT WORKER POLICY, NEW TECHNOLOGY IN 
MEDIA 
 
REF: A. Chiang Mai 59 (Community Radio) 
     ¶B. Bangkok 1053 (Local Broadcast Media) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000090  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
------------------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------------------ 
 
 
¶1.  (U) As Thailand grapples with its policy towards migrant 
workers and in the wake of media getting caught in the 
crosshairs of Thai domestic politics, Consulate Chiang Mai 
hosted two PA speakers funded by Embassy Bangkok on migrant 
labor and citizen journalism June 19-20.  Both programs were 
well-attended, and participant feedback has been very positive. 
The former program in particular was an opportunity for NGOs and 
government officials to discuss vexing issues face-to-face in a 
non-confrontational setting with an independent moderator. 
 
¶2.  (U) Comment: These programs helped further the mission's 
goals of democracy promotion and enhancing international 
understanding.  Treatment of migrant workers will be an issue in 
Thailand as long as the Burmese economy continues to flounder 
and the regime there continues to oppress its people.  Building 
individuals' capacity to accurately report news will be key to 
Thailand's democratic development.  Consulate Chiang Mai would 
welcome additional speakers on these topics.  End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
Migrant Workers: Drawing on U.S. Experiences 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) There are an estimated 2,000,000 Burmese residing in 
Thailand, most of whom are illegal migrant workers.  The 
presentation by Dr. Philip Martin, a labor economist at the 
University of California Davis, about employing migrants in a 
recession, was therefore very timely.  After explaining the 
roots of the current economic downturn, Dr. Martin focused on 
policy responses, ranging from the accommodating environment of 
places like San Francisco, which issues identity cards to 
illegal migrants, to other locales, which fine employers for 
hiring them. 
 
¶4.  (U) Over 32 participants from several provinces of northern 
Thailand attended Dr. Martin's presentation, representing 
provincial and local government, immigration, the judiciary, law 
enforcement, and NGOs, including ethnic Burmese groups that 
advocate on behalf of migrant workers.  The Deputy Governor of 
Tak Province, which borders Burma and is home to thousands of 
Burmese migrant workers, attended for the full day. 
 
¶5.  (U) The discussion was lively, with questions covering 
topics such as social security, wages, benefits, workmen's 
compensation, education for the families of migrant workers, 
deportation and healthcare.  The afternoon session saw a civil 
but very lively debate between public prosecutors, health 
officials and NGOs in which they expressed their differing views 
regarding whether RTG policy toward migrant workers sufficiently 
takes the needs and rights of workers into account.  That led to 
a discussion of whether NGOs were making proper use of the Thai 
legal system to seek redress on behalf of workers.  Dr. Martin 
artfully guided the exchange, emphasizing that no country had 
perfect migrant worker policies, but that all stakeholders had 
to join together to craft measures that made sense for Thailand. 
 
¶6.  (U) Dr. Martin made three key recommendations for Thai 
policy toward migrant workers. 
 
-- Migrant workers should be compensated on par with their 
documented Thai counterparts.  Failure to do so gives a 
competitive advantage to employers who hire migrants due to the 
lower wages and fewer benefits they receive.  Equal compensation 
would also benefit Thai workers, Dr. Martin noted.  By allowing 
firms to pay migrant workers lower wages, the RTG creates 
disincentives for businesses to hire Thai workers. 
 
-- Thailand should establish incentives to reinforce existing 
rules.  If a company ensures that a legal migrant worker returns 
to Burma at the end of his contract, the employer might be 
allowed to hire another migrant worker, or might be given a tax 
break.  Workers who voluntarily return could be reimbursed the 
funds they paid into the Thai Social Security system. 
 
-- The Thai Government, instead of unilaterally announcing new 
migrant worker policies as it has done in the past, should work 
consultatively with NGOs and other actors to craft a better, 
more equal policy from the outset.  These insights were 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000090  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
particularly relevant since Dr. Martin previously worked at the 
Thai Ministry of Labor. 
 
Dr. Martin used his closing remarks to emphasize that managing 
migration is an adaptive process, not a problem to be solved. 
Employers, migrant workers, and local workers will all respond 
to changes in migration and labor policy, creating a need for 
future policy revisions.  Thus, government officials and 
relevant stakeholders must be willing to engage in ongoing and 
honest debates about the trade-offs inherent in any migration 
policy change. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Applying New Technology to Old Media 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In a separate program, journalism professor Suzanne 
McBride of Columbia College in Chicago held three sessions and 
gave two on-camera interviews on the topic of citizen 
journalism.  The first of her sessions was hosted by Internews, 
an organization that trains Burmese journalists in northern 
Thailand with USG funding.  Internews brought together more than 
nine citizen journalists from several northern Thailand-based 
exile media outlets for a discussion and interactive workshop on 
how to be an effective citizen journalist, and how to apply new 
technology to one's work.  A group of trainees conducted an 
on-camera interview with Ms. McBride after the June 19 session. 
 
¶8.  (U) On June 20, Ms. McBride gave a talk to over 30 community 
radio operators from several northern Thai provinces, focusing 
on how to take full advantage of new technologies like i-Phone, 
Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites. 
 
¶9.  (U) She also gave audience members, whose stations cover 
issues ranging from cultural preservation to environmental 
protection, a chance to voice their biggest challenges as 
community radio operators, to which she responded by providing 
practical suggestions on how to address the issues.  Challenges 
discussed included fund-raising and volunteer recruitment.  Ms. 
McBride also shared some new citizen journalism techniques, such 
as allowing competitors to run one's stories to ensure wide 
dissemination. 
 
¶10. (U) The same afternoon, Ms. McBride provided hands-on 
training to university students and citizen journalists working 
for the Thai Public Broadcasting Service on the basic principles 
of citizen journalism.  As part of the workshop, she broke the 
audience into small groups to discuss interviewing techniques 
and formulate an approach designed to elicit information from a 
person who is difficult to interview.  After the group 
discussion, two representatives from each group conducted mock 
interviews with McBride, who pretended to be the Minister of 
Public Health, in an effort to pry loose information about the 
H1N1 situation in Thailand.  After the workshop, several 
university students interviewed Ms. McBride for an article they 
are compiling for their school newspaper. 
 
¶11. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Bangkok. 
MORROW