Passport office move preempts rainy season dangers

Kon Hadae

The Burmese government temporary passport office in based in Kawthuang will be moved to Ranong during the coming rainy season, according to Kawthaung residents.

The move from Kawthaung to Ranong was arranged in order to ensure easier travel and to avoid the dangerous of boats sinking carrying migrant workers crossing to make temporary passports, a Kawthaung resident who is close to a member of the temporary passport office, said.

“If [you] travel from Ranong to Kawthaung two ways, it takes [a total] time of one hour. Rainstorms normally hit during rainy season,” said the resident, summarizing what he had been told by passport office staff had told him. “It is very dangerous for the travelers. Moreover it is very difficult for the people who have never traveled by boat - they are easily get sick. If they get sea sick it could be bad for them”.

The Burmese temporary passport office staff has begun preparations to relocate to the new office in Ranong, however the move is not yet complete. “I have seen that the new office has been painted, but have not set up the name [sign] yet,” an eyewitness from Ranong described.

A move in location of temporary passport office will make processing of temporary passports more easy for migrants, by shortening the journey and decreasing the cost of the trip. A worker who has already made a temporary passport explained, “[If] we go to Kawthaung from Ranong, we have to pay 100 baht for the boat to get a temporary passport in Kawthaung, [and to return] have to pay 100 baht again. [We pay] a total of 200 baht.”

Nearly 600 migrants a day arrive in Kawthaung to make temporary passports, a Kawthuang based broker told IMNA.

The danger for migrants crossing to Kawthaung is real. On May 15th, 2009 an express boat crossing From Kawthaung to Ranong sank, with 11 people dead and only 8 survivors. During rainy season, boats are stopped for two or more days until the weather is stable. One week ago ships running between Kawthaung to Ranong were halted for 4 days during heavy rainfall, a resident broker reported.

The decision of moving the office came during a government meeting at the foreign minister’s department in Nay Pyi Daw that addressed topics of migrant workers working aboard in Thailand, according to Khitlunge, a government media source, on June 5th.