An estimated 107,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand welcome a step toward expanding access to education for children living in nine refugee camps along the Thailand–Myanmar border, where Save the Children reports a “worrying situation” as student numbers rise due to conflict in Myanmar driving more families into the camps while funding continues to decrease.
“Refugee families are struggling to secure basic needs. This education policy may reduce stress on families who are facing many difficulties,” Maw Pray Myar, the president of the Karenni National Women’s Organization (KNWO), told DVB. KNWO is an organization advocating for the rights of women and children from Karenni State living in Myanmar and Thailand.
On Jan. 30, Thailand announced a new policy requiring all schools under the Ministry of Education to accept children “regardless of nationality or legal status,” starting in the 2026 academic year this May. Under this policy, schools are instructed to coordinate with parents or guardians to collect relevant documents and work with district or local registration offices.
Saw Nay Doh, the deputy chairperson of the Umpiem Mai Refugee Camp Committee in Thailand’s Tak Province 45 miles (87 km) south of the Thai-Myanmar border town Mae Sot, told DVB that families have long hoped their children would be allowed to study outside the camps.
“If children have the opportunity to study at Thai schools, families would take advantage of it,” he said. This Thai policy change comes one year after financial assistance for Myanmar refugees has sharply declined since the U.S. cut all of its funding in January 2025.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which was funded by the U.S., shut down nearly all of its primary healthcare services while other donors, including U.N. agencies, have scaled back—but not fully halted—support.
On Sept. 4, the Thai Ministry of Public Health announced a 160 million baht ($4.4 million USD) budget to strengthen healthcare services in the nine refugee camps.
Leon de Riedmatten, the The Border Consortium (TBC) executive director, told DVB in September that access to education outside the camps, and healthcare inside the camps, is critical so families will be able to work to earn enough income to support the children.
TBC is a Thailand-based organization that has provided food, shelter, and other assistance to Myanmar refugees for more than 30 years. It halted food rations to “standard households,” which affects about 80 percent of all the refugee camp population in Thailand.
Aye Aye, a resident of Umpiem Mai refugee camp, told DVB that she cares for her children who attend informal schools inside the camp, while her husband was one of 107,000 Myanmar refugees to receive legal work permits from the Thai government.
She added that if her children were able to attend Thai schools outside the camp, she would also be able to earn income and better support her family.
Established in 1984, the nine refugee camps are located in Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi provinces along the border with Myanmar’s Karenni and Karen states, as well as Tanintharyi Region, and are administered by the Thai government with support from international organizations and local civil society groups.
