A mighty but silent river: Women and migration

In a Thai factory just across the border from Myanmar, a young woman with a gently rounded face and wide eyes assembles costume jewellery for export to North America. Her name is Saokham and she earns 140 Thai Baht (about US$3.50) a day. In this part of the world, it is a respectable wage—particularly for someone who grew up living in abject poverty in a mountain village in Myanmar’s Shan Province. Although Saokham completed eight years of free schooling, she was unable to continue her education because her parents were too poor to pay her school fees. At the age of 14 she followed her older sister—who had left home two years earlier—to neighbouring Thailand. Today, she lives with her young husband in a community of fellow compatriots near the Myanmar border. “Living in Thailand, we have money for food and to spend. Life is convenient,” she says. “Back home we didn’t have any work except farm work.”

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Gender Equality

Reduced Inequalities