The Long Baht Home
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Ngu Wah is currently a Research Fellow from Knowledge Circle Foundation, as well as a PhD candidate in Chiang Mai University studying migration and political economy. In this episode, she offers her findings on the experience of female migrant workers in Thailand, the financial burdens of overseas workers, and the importance of remittances to Myanmar’s economy. All her observations impact the future she envisions for Myanmar.
Addressing her studies on Myanmar’s political system and on migration into Thailand, Ngu Wah touches upon the conflict‑driven structures that have developed especially after the 2021 coup. She explains that Myanmar remains largely a resource‑based economy, mainly dependent on extractive industries and agriculture. The State Administration Council (SAC) controls the formal sector, while a significant informal sphere involves both state and non‑state actors. Weak infrastructure— including transport, roads, and telecommunications— continues to weigh heavily on national development.
Transitioning from her economic analysis, Ngu Wah explains that her strong, personal desire to help Burmese and migrant workers stems from her own family background, giving her the motivation to pursue studies in related fields, believing that these migrant workers are truly the “unsung heroes of Myanmar.”
Before pursuing her PhD in Thailand, she studied Burmese migrant workers who had returned home. Ngu Wah wanted to understand their diverse experiences overseas and how their families managed the remittances they sent back. She looked at whether money was used in productive or non‑productive ways, and found that it gave her insight into rural families’ spending behavior and how migrant workers support the agricultural sector. For her graduate research in Thailand, she then met migrant workers directly, examining the challenges they faced after the pandemic and amid Thailand’s political uncertainty. From these interviews, she uncovered striking evidence of a gender wage gap. To illustrate this point, she explains that although men and women are usually registered and employed in manufacturing, women’s basic and additional wages are lower than men’s. Yet despite this gap, women often send more remittances home. From her interviews, she found that women create extra income by selling food or clothes in their networks, and they also share skills with one another so peers can earn beyond factory wages. Their use of digital tools lets them exchange knowledge and broaden opportunities, and living in close community helps lower expenses. Taken together, she believes these factors explain why women are able to remit more even with lower pay.
Ngu Wah also highlights challenges specific to women. In her qualitative study with women’s groups, she found that when contracts in Thailand expire, women often face more difficulty than men in finding new jobs. After returning to Myanmar, it is similarly hard for them to re‑enter the workforce. Because many of these women plan to go back, these limited job prospects at home lead them to consider starting small businesses. As a result, remittances become even more important, functioning as savings and potential start‑up capital.
One major challenge for migrants of all backgrounds is obtaining proper documentation. While the official fee is not high, the long and bureaucratic process—combined with language barriers—pushes many to rely on agents or, at times, their employers. The fees charged by these middlemen weigh heavily on already tight finances. Because of the added cost and the lack of affordable loan services, some workers fall into debt, while others risk living and working without papers. Yet proper documentation is vital for legal protection, access to essential services, and the ability to remain employed for longer periods. The problem also extends to the documents required to open bank accounts. In facing these challenges, she stresses that the process should not be politicized. "We need to be very practical to solve that issue," she says. "We need to think for the migrant workers,” by strengthening financial infrastructure, knowledge, and inclusion. For this reason, she argues that employers should pay closer attention and actively help their workers secure the documents they need.
Ngu Wah shares that in 2018, it was estimated that remittances made up 4% of Myanmar’s GDP, and possibly much more if inclusive of the remittances being sent home through informal channels. Remittances have since risen in importance to the economy after the 2021 coup as many have migrated from Myanmar for various purposes, including escaping conflict, and more money is being sent home as remittances. However, financial crimes and the growth of scams have made it far riskier to send money through informal channels. Ngu Wah believes attention should shift to helping migrants use formal channels so they can remit money more safely. However, this is far from easy, as she references the problem of tightening controls, and acknowledges that changing regulations is far from easy. Still, she argues that mechanisms offering flexibility and security for migrant workers must be established on both sides of the border. At the same time, she stresses the need to consider the actual habits migrants follow when sending money home.
She notes that many people describe the Burmese as ‘resilient,’ pointing to their ability to withstand repeated hardships, but Ngu Wah no longer embraces this word. She argues that the constant struggles have taken a toll and that resilience should not be romanticized. Instead, she believes that their motivation has been “dragged down” and competing for scarce resources left in the communities has affected social cohesion in “most areas.”
Ngu Wah emphasizes that building financial literacy, knowledge, and inclusion takes time, but insists it is essential not just for one regime but for everyone’s digital safety in the long run. Reflecting on her fieldwork in Myanmar with migrant returnees and their families, she admits there were many things she could not fully grasp then. With the backing of her university and international organizations, however, she was able to conduct surveys of migrant workers that helped her, as she put it, start to “answer the puzzle.” Now she also works with non‑academic networks and organizations assisting migrants in Thailand, aiming to connect what she has learned academically with her own experience in Myanmar so she can better serve her community back home.
Currently, Myanmar still faces many of the same structural problems that existed before the 2021 coup – above all, a knowledge and skill gap that hinders development. As the interview draws to a close, Ngu Wah appeals to Myanmar’s neighbors and the international community to reach out and support those suffering on the ground, and to continue strengthening education both within and outside of Myanmar. Against this backdrop of wage gaps, sacrifice, bureaucracy, scams, and fraying social fabric, she offers her final reflection, noting that "[the Burmese] always find a way to survive.”