Cross-ethnic Labour Solidarities among Myanmar Workers in Thailand

With a prominent focus on military conflicts in Myanmar, international media coverage has tended to emphasize the divisiveness of ethnicity in the country. This article, by contrast, looks at interpersonal ties and formations of solidarity amongst an ethnically and religiously diverse body of workers from Myanmar, now residing in Thailand. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted with Myanmar workers, the central argument of this article is that shared socio-economic grievances have served as salient bases of cohesion and collective action within this multi-ethnic, multi-religious migrant labour context.