"Thai Authorities Arrest And Deport Thousands of Myanmar Workers", 1 Aug 2016

Thai authorities have arrested and deported up to 10,000 Myanmar nationals working in the country as part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants during the last 10 days, an official from a Myanmar nongovernmental organization that helps migrant workers said…

Those arrested in the operation led by the Thai army work in markets, shopping malls, and hotels…Some were sent to Thailand by employment agencies.

“Most of the workers have work and residency permits, but they are being arrested because the names of their work places and those of their bosses are different from the ones that the authorities have,” Kyaw Thaung [director of the Myanmar Association in Thailand] said….

When Myanmar workers are sent to the border at Myawaddy, they must pay Thai officials 1,000 baht (U.S. $29) to leave Thailand…

If the workers cannot pay the fee, they have to work on the border guards’ farmlands, Kyaw Thaung said…