Tsunami Memories 10 Years Later: What Happened to the Burmese Workers in Thailand

I was in southern Thailand after the 2004 tsunami. I went to Phang Nga to understand the fate of the Burmese migrant workers. Here’s what I found
Tsunami Memories 10 Years Later: What Happened to the Burmese Workers in Thailand
Cindy Drukier
Updated:

Ten years ago, the day after Christmas 2004, a giant tsunami stirred the Indian Ocean and wrought devastation upon thousands of miles of coastline. The epicenter of the 9.1-magnitude earthquake was off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake released energy equivalent to 23,000 Nagasaki atomic bombs and impacted communities from Sri Lanka to Somalia. 

Within 24 hours, an estimated 228,000 people were dead, and 1.7 million were displaced, according to U.S. Geological Survey numbers. 

Particularly hard hit was the western seaboard of northern Indonesia and southern Thailand. 

As coastal communities began to regroup after the shock and loss, I was down to southern Thailand. I went there a few times in the aftermath of the disaster. This visit was a month on. I went to Phang Nga to understand how the disaster had affected the largely undocumented Burmese migrant workers. No one can say exactly how many of them died, but the number is estimated to be about 2,000, according to the Bangkok Post.

I found there a story of a group on the fringes and fending for themselves. And also a story of selflessness and bravery. Here’s that story.

 

Treading Where Few Dare

Jan. 27, 2014. PHANG NGA, Thailand—Spontaneous actions reveal one’s true nature, they say. If this is so, then Nyan Lin has a heart of virtue.

Nyan Lin, 22, is a migrant worker from Myanmar (formerly Burma) working as a rubber-tapper in Phang Nga province in southern Thailand, an area devastated by the killer tsunami last Dec. 26. He left Burma with his mother when he was eight years old. Since then he’s been working on the rubber plantations making 60-70 baht per day (U.S. $1.50-$1.75).

Nyan Lin was out of harm’s way when the giant waves crashed into the picturesque local coastline. Afterwards, his first thoughts were of other Burmese workers who weren’t so lucky. Immediately, he rushed down to the shore to have a look.

Nyan Lin, a Burmese migrant worker in Phang Nga, Thailand, the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Jan. 27, 2005. (Cindy Drukier/Epoch Times)
Nyan Lin, a Burmese migrant worker in Phang Nga, Thailand, the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Jan. 27, 2005. Cindy Drukier/Epoch Times
Cindy Drukier
Cindy Drukier
Author
Cindy Drukier is a veteran journalist, editor, and producer. She's the host of NTD's International Reporters Roundtable featured on EpochTV, and perviously host of NTD's The Nation Speaks. She's also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her two films are available on EpochTV: "Finding Manny" and "The Unseen Crisis"
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