Violence between Thai and Myanmar workers

The Bangkok Post reports ("Workers clash in Ayutthaya camp") on fighting between Thai workers and Myanmar migrant workers at a work camp in Ayuttaya:

One Thai and two Myanmar workers were seriously injured during a clash at a camp site in tambon Nong Nam Sai, Phachi district, Ayutthaya province last night, district chief Withit Pinnikorn said on Monday.
The camp site houses nearly 2,000 workers - about 1,000 Thais, 600 Myanmarese and 400 workers from other nations - employed by the Gulf JP Company, a major private electricity producer in Thailand. The workers were hired for the construction of the Nong Saeng power plant. The construction is supervised by Sino-Thai Co. According to Mr Withit, Somkhuan Unkham, 32, a Thai worker, was beaten up by about 20 Myanmarese worker on Sunday evening. He was badly hurt and required 30 stitches to his wounds. Late last night, Thai and Myanmarese workers, about 800 altogether, clashed, using knives, hammers and wooden sticks. One Thai and two Myanmar workers were seriously injured. Workers representatives would be called in for talks to settle their dispute. Representatives of Gulf JP Co and the construction company would also be invited to the talks, the district officer said.

Update: "Curfew urged after brutal worker brawl," Bangkok Post, 23 October 2012

Phachi district officials have proposed the imposition of a curfew on Thai and Myanmar construction workers following a brawl at the weekend that left one Thai and two Myanmar nationals seriously injured. The officials want workers at the Nong Saeng power plant construction site to remain in their shelters after 10pm, after the Thai and Myanmar workers clashed at 10.30pm on Sunday, Phachi district chief Withit Pinnikorn said. The clash broke out after a Thai worker identified as Somkhuan Unkham, 32, was beaten up allegedly by about 20 Myanmar workers earlier the same evening. He was badly hurt and required 30 stitches to his wounds. This enraged Thai workers, who later took revenge on the Myanmar workers. The two sides used construction tools such as hammers, knives and wooden sticks as weapons.

"Several labourers injured after Thai, Burmese nationals clash," Democratic Voice of Burma, 23 October 2012.

Several people were seriously injured after violence erupted between Thai and Burmese labourers near a construction site in Thailand’s Ayutthaya province on Sunday. Tensions between Thai and Burmese nationals hired to help construct a power plant in in Ayutthaya’s Phachi district overflowed when a brawl between an estimated 800 people erupted on Sunday evening. According to the Bangkok Post, one Thai and two Burmese workers were seriously injured after the workers attacked each other with sticks, knives and construction tools. The police were called in and reportedly fired warning shots to help disperse the mob.

Update: "Burmese Workers Return after Clash with Thais," The Irrawaddy, 14 November 2012.

Around 175 Burmese migrant workers have left Thailand after clashing last weekend with their Thai co-workers at a construction site in Samut Prakan Province, near Bangkok. The workers returned to Burma through Myawaddy Township on Tuesday after they were fired by their Thai employer, 3-PORN Construction, for the fight that broke out last Saturday. The company employs 900 Burmese hired under a labor-sharing agreement between Thailand and Burma. Kyaw Thaung, a labor activist from the Myanmar Association Thailand, said his group would help the workers to get compensation.