Meeting at the Crossroads: Myanmar Migrants and Their Use of Thai Health Care Services

Abstract

This study assesses the use of health services among cross-border migrants from Myanmar who are now living in Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand. The migrants comprise three main ethnic groups, namely the Burmese, Karen and Mon, most of whom have no formal education and are agricultural workers. Results indicate that although the migrants can access government health facilities, they are still more likely to buy drugs or use herbal medicines for treating themselves when they have minor illnesses, while the Thais are more likely to seek medical care from government facilities. The main difficulties for migrants in accessing health services are their legal status, financial constraints, and an inability to speak Thai. Moreover, health beliefs also determine the health-seeking behaviors of migrants, particularly among the Karen who believe in spirits and herbal medicine, while very few of the Burmese and the Mon do so. This leads to the conclusion that ethnicity is an important determinant of the utilization of health services by migrants from Myanmar in Kanchanaburi.

The Role of Health Insurance in Improving Health Services Use by Thais and Ethnic Minority Migrants

“…The low health insurance coverage among the ethnic minority migrants may be because a large number of foreign workers were undocumented (Kittipavara 19 estimated that in Thailand, nearly 1 million foreign workers were undocumented), nonworking family members of migrants were not eligible for purchasing health insurance services, 9 and/or the different health beliefs of ethnic minority migrants prevented them from paying for health insurance. 20 Foreign workers had not been identified in the work permit registration process, which could be because of the following reasons. First, the registration period was very short (only 1 month in 2004).…”

Labour Trafficking among Men and Boys in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Exploitation, Violence, Occupational Health Risks and Injuries

“…Migrant workers with undocumented status in the USA, for example were generally accepting of unsafe work conditions, extended hours and even concealed injuries, fearing job loss if they complained [3,14,15]. Workers without identity documents are often excluded from compensation and insurance schemes, leaving them unable to seek necessary healthcare and support [14,16,17]. Exiting hazardous situations can be difficult for migrant workers because of debt repayment obligations and because they are often owed back-pay by employers [3,15].…”

Health Concerns of ‘Invisible’1 Cross-Border Domestic Maids in Thailand

“…2000;Isarabhakdi 2004). This might be true among foreign migrant workers in other occupations, such as fishing, construction and factory work, who do not have the same opportunities to mix with Thais.…”

“…(Caouette et al . 2000;Isarabhakdi 2004). Although the recognition of rights and provision of health services constitutes an indispensable basis for the improvement of migrants' health, these formal arrangements are still far from sufficient in themselves and might even create new obstacles to improving migrants' health.…”