New Thai Governor targeting Mon workers

March 21, 2008

Lawi Weng, HURFOM

In Samut Sakhon, Mon migrant workers report that the new governor of the province has issued a slew of restrictions on the cultural expression of Mon workers.

The restrictions include bans on traditional Mon dress or involvement in Mon national issues. “We don’t know what the new Thai governor’s policy toward Mon workers will be,” the chairman of the Mon Cultural Center (MCC), based on the Thai-Burma border, said in reference to the restrictions “But we feel that our way of life is being threatened.”

On February 8th, the Bangkok Post published an article describing crackdowns on Mon people living in the province. For decades, Mon people living in Thailand have held a two or three-day festival surrounding Mon National Day. Until this year, thousands of Mon people have gathered to celebrate their culture and commemorate ancestors. Things were different in 2008, however, and Samut Sakhon’s new governor imposed severe restrictions on the festival.

In early February, the Bangkok Post documented an Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) notice issued prior to the festival prohibiting activities that encourage “national sentiment.” The chairman of the MCC verified this report, and described another order issued by the governor banning signs written in the Burmese or Mon alphabet. And in a separate letter to organizers, the governor ordered that they shorten the festival by a day, disclose the names of organizers and deny the participation of unregistered Mon workers. It even went so far as to prohibit singing and dancing.

One hundred Thai police mobilized to enforce the ISOC notice, blocking entry into the Ban Rai Charoenpol temple in Samut Sakhon, where the celebration was slated to take place. According to the chairman of the Mon Unity League (MUL), police demanded money and threatened to arrest workers, registered and unregistered. “We are very sad for the workers – even those who have work permits had to pay two thousand baht (sixty US dollars),” the chairman said.

The prohibition followed a notice issued in October discouraging public and private entities from supporting events held by migrant workers from Burma. The MCC chairman also described an order from the governor directing employers of Burmese workers to restrict the rights of workers, even those with work permits. “Burmese people work harder jobs, for longer hours and less salary than Thai workers,” the MCC chairman said. “And now the workers cannot go out, they cannot meet friends, they cannot meet in groups or go to the temple. They feel like they are prisoners. The only difference is they get a salary.” Workers defying the order risk being arrested, he added.

The MCC chairman also said that the governor directed employers to deny housing to pregnant women and pressure them to return to Burma. “People can only be here for work, nothing else,” he said. “No political activity. No national issues. And no families.”

Some question the ISOC’s authority to restrict cultural events like the Mon National Day celebration. Such restrictions cannot reasonably be related to national security, raising questions about the motivation behind the new policies. “What they are trying to do is definitely not for national security reasons. This country won’t be safe if the authorities exploit the law,” Surapong Kongchantuk, vice-chairman of the Lawyers’ Council of Thailand’s Human Rights Sub-Committee on Ethnic Minorities, told the Bangkok Post.

Another Thai Mon expert quoted by the Bangkok Post explained that the actions are motivated by an ISOC belief that anything strengthening Mon cultural unity is inherently a political act.

Some Mon rights groups feel that the recent restrictions are a misunderstanding, and the chairman of the MCC said he hopes that the governor will come to understand the difference between cultural expression and political activism. “The festival was just supposed to be an opportunity to donate food to our monks and commemorate Mon leaders,” the chairman of the MUL said, echoing his counterpart at the MCC. “It was about Mon culture. There was dancing. Not talk about politics.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News