Three Burmese migrant workers at a rubber plantation in southern Thailand’s Suratthani Province were shot dead on Friday. The trio included a 13-year-old.
Aung Myo Thant, legal advisor for the Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT), said the three were relatives from Mon State and included two brothers, San Min and Chit Pu, aged 21 and 13 respectively, and fellow worker Kyaw Htoo, 27. They were apparently shot by an unknown assailant in the evening of 23 January outside their living quarters at the plantation in Chai Buri District.
“We went [to Chai Buri] the following morning after learning about the shooting. All three died from gunshot wounds to the head, neck and chest. One of them was found outside the house and two were inside,” Aung Myo Thant told DVB.
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“It is unclear why they were shot. The bodies are at a monastery in Chaiya and the funeral is on Wednesday.”
He said the police in Chai Buri are currently investigating the shooting. The MAT has sent photographs and information from the crime scene to the Burmese embassy in Bangkok, and said it is standing by to provide assistance if necessary.
Violence against Burmese migrants in the region is not uncommon. Last year, two brothers – Hla Thein, 25, and Aung Min Thein, 21 – were killed after being stabbed and shot in the same week that a 19-year-old girl was raped and killed, according to Htoo Chit from the migrant rights group, Foundation for Education and Development. He called on the Burmese government to offer protection to migrant workers abroad.
