Amid ongoing hostility toward migrant workers from neighboring countries in Thailand since last year, a video — which has received over 1 million views — has been widely shared with the false claim that it depicts Myanmar workers demanding a wage of 700 baht.
However, the owner of the video confirmed to AFP that it actually shows a protest by Myanmar workers in Phetchabun province, Thailand, against high fees charged for visa and work permit renewals.
The video, originally posted to Facebook on January 31, 2025, was captioned with: “Myanmar wants to raise wages to 700 baht.”
The post went on to compare it with Thailand’s minimum wage, which stands at 350 baht, and added: “Thais get 350, but Myanmar wants 700.” (link)
The video — viewed more than 1.3 million times — shows a large group of protesters in front of a building. A man in the video is heard speaking in Burmese: “We’ve been waiting all day and are tired.”
“Now that our demands have been met, night-shift workers can go to work, and day-shift workers can go rest. Okay? Thank you, everyone.”
Posts making similar false claims have been widely shared across social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. One user commented: “Myanmar wants to take over Thailand already.”
Another added: “If you don’t want 350 baht, then get out.”
These misleading posts circulated shortly after the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a report titled:
“The Rise of Anti-Migrant Sentiment and the Spread of Hate Speech Targeting Myanmar Nationals.” (link)
The report highlighted that: “There is an ongoing effort to spread false information on social media.” This disinformation is a key driver behind the intensifying wave of hate.
According to IOM, there are currently 2.3 million registered Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, plus an estimated 1.8 million undocumented workers. (link)
Myanmar has been in a state of civil unrest since the military coup in February 2021, which ousted the elected civilian government. This has forced millions of Burmese people to flee to Thailand in search of work — often ending up in dangerous or low-paying jobs in construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. (link)
However, the claim that Myanmar workers demanded a wage increase to 700 baht is false. The viral video actually shows a protest over high visa renewal fees, and has no connection to wage demands.
Migrant Workers’ Expenses
By performing a reverse image search using keyframes from the video in the misleading post, we found that the same video was first shared on TikTok on December 16, 2024.(link)
A TikTok user confirmed to AFP that they recorded the video, which shows a protest inside a processed food company specializing in fresh and frozen chicken in Phetchabun Province.
“I have no idea about the claim asking for a wage increase to 700 baht. We never made such a demand,” they said to AFP on February 5, 2025.
Further search with other keywords revealed similar videos shared in a news report on December 17, 2024, regarding a dispute between Myanmar workers and a Thai company in Phetchabun over “unjustifiably high passport and visa extension fees.” (link)
The protest ended peacefully after the company agreed to reduce the expenses from 11,500 baht to 6,000 baht.
As of February 6, 2025, no reliable reports have confirmed that migrant workers in Thailand staged a protest demanding a wage increase to 700 baht.
Myanmar workers told AFP that “there were no reports” of such a wage demand in Thailand, contrary to the false claim.
You can read the fact-check report regarding similar false claims targeting Myanmar workers [here].
Source: AFP
