At least 20 Myanmar migrant workers killed during flooding in southern Thailand

At least 20 Myanmar migrant workers were among the 170 people killed during severe flooding in eight of Thailand’s southern provinces in late November, migrant worker groups from Myanmar in Thailand told DVB.

Twelve undocumented Myanmar workers were among the 20 found dead inside a locked house in Hat Yai, a field coordinator with the Hat Yai-based Labour Protection Network told DVB.

“Those 12 Myanmar people had just arrived in Thailand through illegal channels and were kept and locked in one house by a broker. So they couldn’t get out during flooding and everyone inside died,” said Ba Yi, the field coordinator at the Labour Protection Network.

Thai officials stated that Hat Yai District in Songkhla Province was among the hardest hit regions in southern Thailand after experiencing a “once-in-300-years” flood caused by intense rainfall and a rare cyclonic storm.

Thailand’s Public Health Ministry reported on Dec. 1 that the death toll in Songkhla Province was 140 out of the total 170 killed across eight southern provinces.