School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine University of the Ryukyus

DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL HEALTH

reportResearch and Assistance for Burmese Refugees and Migrants (Reports)
Introduction to Our Activities

Thailand: Research on the Behavior of Burmese Migrant Workers in Undergoing Medical Consultations and Social Support, Investigation Report

With the cooperation of Dean Wipada of the Faculty of Nursing at Chiang Mai University and the Tak Province Labor Bureau, this seven-month study was conducted in Mae Sot, Tak Province in Thailand. There are more than 300 factories where Burmese migrants work in Mae Sot, which shares a border with Myanmar. Of these, eight, which satisfied the study conditions, were selected and surveys conducted of 268 Burmese migrant workers working at these plants.

　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Surveying workers at a plant

This study, which focused on migrants, faced many obstacles in terms of research ethics as well as the selection of factories and subjects. Although systems for migrants continue to be improved, there are still many things that are not transparent about their situation and the research proceeded through repeated trial and error. However, precisely because much of the situation is not visible, the results obtained are of particular value. Throughout the survey, the significance of this study was once again realized. Also, as a master student, I learned quite a lot from having been able to experience each individual part of a top class research process in Thailand. (Doctoral candidate Maekawa)