Abstract
This study examines how language diversity is managed at the individual, community, and national level, and the extent to which language diversity management impacts on local people and migrant workers in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. The results will serve as the basis for recommendations to Thailand and other ASEAN countries. Qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews were used in this study. The findings show that Thailand provides for migrant workers and their children in terms of formal and informal education, health care services, work place regulation, and interpreter support. In Malaysia and Singapore, some NGOs and the private sector provide a few English courses and skill development options, but, unlike Thailand, no support for special programmes is provided. This study suggests that, for Thailand, the official and private sectors should consider offering “language competence compensation” to supplement public service salaries to encourage more Thais to learn other languages, particularly Burmese-Thai/Mon-Thai, so that they can be trained to be interpreters. In addition, the study suggests that curricula for migrant children that are mutually acceptable in both Thailand and Myanmar should be designed; and a “Migrant Workers Fund” should be set up for migrant well-being and development. ASEAN countries, should adopt a fair and ‘win-win’ strategy for recruiting migrant workers in both sending and receiving countries, and ASEAN should consider applying a multilingual policy bloc-wide. Keywords: unskilled migrant workers, language diversity, multicultural societies, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore
Highlights
The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 has further heightened long-standing trends of labour migration within Southeast Asia
Malaysia, and Singapore are the most active countries for migration in Southeast Asia in which Thailand and Malaysia are both sending and receiving countries while Singapore is only a receiving country. These three countries were selected for this project, which followed qualitative research methods including in-depth interviews that were conducted as follows: Thailand: Interviews were conducted with 28 migrant workers from Myanmar in Samut Sakhon Province, 18 representatives from various Thai government offices in Samut Sakhon, and staff from 2 NGOs including some private companies related to migrant workers
Beginning in 1992, Thai businesses started hiring migrant workers from Myanmar to work in nine border provinces, including Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Tak, Ranong, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Mae Hong Son, and Ratchaburi
Summary
The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 has further heightened long-standing trends of labour migration within Southeast Asia. As stated by Trajkovski and Loosemore (2006, cited in Nurul Azita Binti Salleh, 2012), ‚Language is a barrier for communication, whether verbal or written, when presenting information to the foreign workers. This makes presentation of work orders by the employer difficult as the workers do not understand them‛. According to the study of Nurul Azita Binti Salleh (2012), in Australia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom (UK), language problems among foreign workers affect occupational safety and health
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