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Panel Discussion and Mini Exhibition “Neighbours in Need-In Need of Neighbours: Thailand’s Labour Shortage and Mixed Migration”
3 December, 2025 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Event Description
On the 3rd of November 2025, the Mekong Migration Network (MMN) in collaboration with SEA Junction will host a panel discussion on Thailand’s latest response to cross-border migration issues.
Thailand’s economic growth has depended on migrant workers from neighbouring countries for the last three decades. Thailand currently hosts over 4 million migrant workers, and labour intensive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, construction and fishing industry are particularly vulnerable to any change in the availability of migrants. For example, when over 220,000 Cambodian migrant workers left following the military coup in Thailand in 2014, the severity of the labour shortage quickly became apparent in Thailand.
In recent years, Thailand has had to respond to major changes in the migrant population, firstly during the Covid pandemic, then an increase of people fleeing the military regime in Myanmar since the coup in 2021. Most recently, Cambodians are leaving Thailand as a result of the border conflict. In August 2025, Thailand announced its decision to grant the right to work to refugees housed in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. Thailand has also announced plans to recruit around 10,000 workers from Sri Lanka to fill labour shortages.
In light of these ongoing situations and the inter-dependence of countries in the region, what policy options are available to the Thai Government? How can mixed migration be managed to benefit both Thailand and people arriving from Myanmar? What roles can different stakeholders play in ensuring social cohesion and upholding the rights of migrant workers?
MMN will explore these questions with various stakeholders in the forthcoming panel discussion. Speakers will include representatives of UN agencies, migrant and refugee advocates, employers’ associations, and academic experts. The panel discussions will take place alongside an exhibition of photos and personal narratives which vividly portray the lived experience of migrants in Thailand.
Speakers
- Jacqueline Strecker, Senior Development Officer UNHCR
- Nilubon Pongpayom, Group of Entrepreneurs with Foreign Workers
- Htoo Chit, Foundation for Education and Development
Moderator
- Jackie Pollock, Migration Expert
The event will take place on 3rd December 2025 from 5.30 pm – 7.00 pm at SEA Junction, 4th Fl., Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). The event will be held in English.
For more information, please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140
NB: The event is free, donations are welcome to support SEA Junction activities.
Organizers
Mekong Migration Network (MMN), founded in 2003, is a sub-regional network of migrant support NGOs, migrant grassroots groups, and research institutes. The central goal of MMN is to promote the welfare, well-being, dignity, and human rights of migrants in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and to build mutual support and solidarity among migrants and advocates within the sub-region.
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions- from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 407-8 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information see www.seajunction.org, join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1693058870976440/ and follow us on twitter and Instagram @seajunction.
