I am Watchaley Petchburi, 57 years old, from Suphanburi province in Thailand. I completed my high school degree from the Office for the Promotion of Non-Formal and Informal Education (NFE) and moved to Bangkok at the age of 18 to help my brother’s family raise their children. After living with them for some years, I wanted to be financially independent, so I found work in a garment knitting factory. When I got married and had two children, I switched to food business. Cooking and selling food allowed me to raise my children without having to rely on anyone. It is a tiring job but I was working independently and could give time to my children.

“Every day as soon as I woke up I had to think of preparing food for my husband and children, I had to make sure that everyone was well looked after, then I had to cook and sell food per orders. There was always a lot of housework to do. It would be almost noon when I could eat and take some rest. My day ended almost 11:00 PM every day.”

I worked in food business as long as my health allowed it. When I had health problems our income went down and my family found it hard to cope with the cost of living in Bangkok. We had to relocate often to find affordable accommodation. Finally, we came to stay in Lam Pha-Ong in Nong Chok District. My health was deteriorating and children had grown up so I decided to become a Public Health Volunteer. I wanted to do some work in our community.

My own life experiences and now observing the lives of many other women makes me think seriously about our society.

“Why do women have to work outside the home to earn money and also take care of their husbands and children? Why housework is only women’s work? Why don’t other people in the house help us? I look at our group in the village, all 20 women members of our group have the same problem. Every day around 5 PM, after a long day’s work outside, all of them have to rush home to cook and clean for the family. I think that cooking and cleaning the house shouldn’t be only the responsibility of women. Everyone in the house should help each other in housework, whether the person is a man or a woman”

As a community volunteer, I have attended many trainings and learnt about many things. I apply the knowledge in my work and try to help members of the community. Seeing my failing health, my neighbours ask me, “Going out again? Why do you go? Why don’t you just stay at home?” But I talk to my family and they understand me. Every time I participate in activities, I get some ideas to help the community, and I also create a network that is ready to help the community.

One of the courses that I attended was on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. An insight from that course has stayed with me – “Before changing others, we should start with ourselves first, talk to yourself, understand yourself, know your needs first. And then gradually understand the people that you are close to and your family to create mutual understanding that everyone needs personal time.”

I applied the learning on myself. I told myself that if I continue the way I was going, I will be in trouble. I can’t keep doing everything alone. So, I started talking to my family that they must change their ways and start sharing housework. They can’t leave it all to me. I am the mom and the wife but I can’t do all work at home alone. Everyone must help each other and share the work at home. If one is busy, another person in the house will have to perform that role instead. This was a new thing and I think I started late. But better late than never. Soon I noticed some change in our household.

The COVID-19 epidemic situation made me see more violence against women in my community. Both physical and mental. In my role as a community leader, I have tried to help fellow women in my community in the following ways:

I let the women release the stress and anxiety in their mind. Sometimes, even if one can’t really help them, listening to their problems is also helpful. I ask them about their needs for help. I suggest ways to solve the problem including by working together.

In one family the husband was infected with COVID-19 and he had to be quarantined. He was looked after by his wife. After he got well, he went back to the company without bothering to take care of other people at home. There are elderly people and children in the family. The wife was very stressed in this situation. She did not know what to do. She had just given birth and was not physically very fit. I consider this psychological violence. I couldn’t do anything for her but I listened to her.

Another woman in our community, in addition to doing all housework alone, she also works outside the home. But nowadays, she has taken up yet another work. After her regular job and then her housework, she sells bread to earn a little additional income for the family. Her husband has just been released from prison after being charged with drugs possession; the society does not accept him so he can’t find work. So I encouraged her to apply for a loan from the community and open a grilled chicken shop and make everyone in the family share the work.

There are many forms of gender-based violence in Thai society, both visible as being attacked on the body and invisible, such as hurtful words which hurt our hearts. These can be prevented if we try at the family level. We can try to bring about change in our attitude. We can start with our children. If children learn to respect women and think of them as equal when they are young, many problems can be solved.

As a community volunteer I would like to ask the Government to help enact the Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act that can actually be enforced and help the person in a timely manner. I would like to see psychological violence addressed too. It is something that we can’t see on a person’s body but it can destroy her life. Domestic violence is a challenging issue because neighbours do not want to interfere thinking that it is private matter, and the police also does not accept the report of the case saying that it is just a family affair. So where would a victim of domestic violence go? Especially one whose wounds no one can see.

(Interview and transcription in Thai by Wanida Kotchasarn, HomeNet Thailand. Translation by Kanchana Di-ut.)

“ Rights are the foundation of life ”

Kyun Par

My name is Kyun Par. You can call me Champa who is The president of Network of Migrant Domestic Workers in Thailand, 46 years old, I’m Burmese. Nepalese descent that lived in Kachin State. My grandparents were Nepalese who emigrated to Burma during World War II. I have been a domestic worker for 29 years.

My father passed away when I was 5 years old, so my mother looked after all 9 children. When I was young, most women of relatives in my village send more money home than men because men can’t save money. They told me that they worked in Bangkok. I don’t know what Bangkok was and what they did, but I noticed they send money home that made me think about working in Bangkok. I came to Thailand at the age of 17 who is smuggling of Illegal Migrants because the government wasn’t permit migrant to register in that time. That’s why I worked under the radar.

Initially, the problem is I don’t know Thai language, but I could speak Hindi that make me have more opportunities than anyone, So I was determined to find an Indian who can speak Hindi. I started working as a babysitter at the age of 17. When I knew Thai, I sense of the bias of Thai colleagues who work as domestic worker same. When they see me, they’d say, ” I’m going to take our job.” It’s so hard for Thai people to find job. I felt guilty when I heard it because I worked illegally, but now I’ve changed my mind because I am legal migrant worker who pay taxes, visa and work permit that makes me have right. I believe everyone has a chance to work and depend on employer’s decision. In addition, the obligation of domestic workers are many which Thais are not enough. Sometimes, employment don’t require Burmese and require only Burmese because they can pay and make us work more.

I work without a contract which is indefinite. Mostly I work with my employer for at least 2 years, I worked as a domestic worker with Indian for 5 years and with a weterner for 10 years. he didn’t say that he would hire me for 10 years. I just stayed untill he back to his country. My work makes my family finances and well-being is better because I’ve sent all my money to my house.

I had no idea what employment was before, and I know this just now, it’s a problem: I couldn’t take time off since I didn’t have a day off. Until I noticed my friend had a day off, at which point I resigned my job and looking for a job with a day off. when I did a job interview, I would negotiate with my employer that I needed a day off once a month.

I agree with Thai migrant worker policy that permitted migrants to register as legal workers, but the process is so cumbersome that migrant workers still prefer to come illegally. Then they are exploited by recruiters. I would like the government to make the process easy. I also think that the health insurance policy that’s great. When I was sick, I still have this money to help me. In the past, I didn’t have health insurance, I had to pay for it all.

My work permits expired in 2014. I don’t know which way to turn. I didn’t have opportunity to hear the government of Plan. When this happened, I met HomeNet Thailand which lets me listen to the government about how to proceed with migrant workers. after that I told my friends.

I met Thai domestic workers and realized that Thailand currently has the ministerial Regulation No. 14 on the protection of domestic workers. it made me realize that Domestic workers have right. I would like to migrant domestic workers in Thailand know about the law and negotiate with employer for right protection. It’s not fortune, it’s our right. In the past, I think that I have a day off because employers are kind, and I don’t have a day off because of bad luck. In fact, life is based on right if everyone has right. At least everyone gets their right and not lower than that we have. So, I thought I couldn’t work alone because my voices aren’t loud, and no one listens when I have an issue. Domestic workers who are Thai and migrant workers in Thailand have the same problems, so organization makes our voices sound louder and Thai domestic workers and migrant domestic workers are on the same page.

I have a network which organization makes everyone notices us and interest in advocate for increased legal and social protection of domestic workers in Thailand. Most workers are female workers who are motherhood that the law doesn’t protect. Government don’t look upon work of domestic work as work and don’t have benefit for the country’s economic development because we work in employer’s house. So, we’re not in Section 33 of the Social Security, I don’t see it that way because we have jobs, our workplace are employer’s houses, when domestic workers unemployed, we lose job, No one’s here to endorse it and motherhood don’t have. we must have the right in Section 33 of social security because We have employers. We’re employees. We’re workers. We look after employer’s family and let employee have time to work outside that they don’t worry about their home, I would like to say that domestic work has value, we’re workers, we just work in the employer’s house. The employer pays us the wages. when we buy things in a convenience store, we buy the same price. The store doesn’t say who we are.

COVID-19 has an economic and social impact on many domestic workers. someone works a lot because employer worked from home and their children don’t go to school but instead study online learning which I had to do with them. Someone got suspended, or lost their job, works less hours and reduction of salary. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Samut Sakhon Province, Causes social deprivation. Most people are afraid of us. Many people think burmese who were the cause of Local transmission. Actually, COVID-19 does not discriminate between Thais and foreigners based on ethnicity. It is, in my opinion, unfair to migrant workers. To solve it, we’ll have to work together.

(Interview and translation from Thai by Kullanat Suksumek.)

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