An estimated 100,000 undocumented ‘illegal’ migrants, most of whom are Burmese, currently live in the Phang Nga region of Southern Thailand. They are unable to access the Thai health care system due to fear of deportation and an inability to pay the fees. Many migrants also do not have a work permit and so they are also denied a Thai health insurance card which would allow them to access treatment at little cost. Even if new migrants have a health insurance card the Thai authorities will not renew them after one year has passed. These migrants live in isolated communities within rubber plantations, fishing villages, construction sites or sawmills, working the jobs that Thai choose not to do. These jobs are termed the 3 D’s; dirty, difficult and dangerous.

Their vulnerability as migrants and lax health and safety standards means that accidents at work sites are not uncommon but often go unreported. If left untreated injuries may seriously affect a migrants ability to earn a living or may even be potentially life-threatening. Furthermore, the Southern provinces of Thailand; Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Surathani and Rayong hold particularly vulnerable Burmese migrants as the migrants in these areas, legal and illegal, are subject to new provincial decrees, or martial laws, introduced on 9^th June 2007. These decrees are designed to strictly restrict migrant movements by forbidding them to carry mobile phones, drive motorbikes, leave their homes between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and by forbidding them to gather in groups of more than five people. Restricting their movement in such a way has further undermined the migrant’s ability to access health care, particularly in emergency situations. These laws have also impeded our own ability to reach the migrant populations, as they have become even more hidden from our view.