One Woman’s Mission to Protect Migrant Workers in Thailand
Chiang Mai, Thailand – In a quiet corner of a bustling labour rights event, Ma Yin watches as the crowd slowly begins to leave. Outside a community centre in Chiang Mai province, the 40-year-old reflects on just how much her life has changed over the past two decades.
Not long ago, Ma Yin worked in silence, unaware of the rights she held. After more than two decades as a domestic worker in Thailand, she is now helping others find their voice too. Today, she is an active member of the migrant worker network and a respected advocate for fair treatment.
Despite having lived and worked in Thailand for over 20 years, Ma Yin had never fully understood the rights she was entitled to or the possibilities those rights could open.
That changed when she joined a training session organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) in Chiang Mai. The session focused on labour rights and how migrant workers could access justice.
Migrant workers in Chiang Mai attend a rights awareness-raising session to better understand Thai labour laws and available protections. Photo: IOM 2025/Ploy Phutpheng
Originally from a rural village in Myanmar’s Shan State, Ma Yin was only 18 when she first crossed into Thailand.
“The situation in my village was terrifying,” she recalls. “I had friends, girls like me, who were playing and working in the fields one day, and the next day, they were gone. Some were assaulted, others were killed. There was no justice, no punishment for the perpetrators, and no one to protect us. I had no choice but to leave.”
In search of safety and a future, she followed a path familiar to many young people from Myanmar, leaving home behind to find work, send money to family, and build a new life. But more challenges awaited her.
“When I arrived in Thailand, I didn’t have the right documents to apply for a work permit,” she says. “As a domestic worker, my employer didn’t think it was necessary to help me register. We’re seen as help in the home, not as real workers with rights.”