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Episode 3: Two Stories from Mae Sot

Episode 3: Two Stories from Mae Sot

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 Two stories of workers from Myanmar in Mae Sot, across the Thailand border. One finds life becomes suddenly precarious when her factory closes after 20-plus years, with full severance pay denied. Another flees the brutal crackdowns of Myanmar's military dictatorship, and learns to sew from scratch in middle age. For both, navigating precarity demands determination in tumultuous times. Links & contacts Griffith Review: griffithreview.com Matthew Abud (producer): tasi-sound@proton.me Clean Clothes Campaign: cleanclothes.org Patch Pheasant (bass player): patrickpheasant@yahoo.com.au Transcript Garment Worker 1 (GW1): Our family really struggled. I failed the 10th grade exam twice. I got married in my early 20s and had two children. Then, people from Mae Sot in Thailand came to recruit. They said they needed workers and asked if we wanted to go. So, my sister went. After about six months, she told me, sister, you can come too, if you want to. And that's how I came here. We Burmese people weren't exactly free. We had to be at the factory before 8:00 a.m. The factory manager built a dormitory for us. It was two stories. We lived in a small, cramped room. In the dormitory for married couples, the space for each couple was about 7 square feet, curtained off. That's where my husband and I kept our water bottles, our lunch boxes, and our curry bowls. Next to us was another couple. In the single women's dormitory, they slept with their feet touching. There was a path down the middle where one person could walk. There was a separate bathroom for boys and girls. And there was a separate dining hall for eating. We just stayed at the factory and we didn't know about the outside world. We only had one day off per month. Only one day off. And on that day off, we would go to the market, buy things for the month, and come back to cook. It wasn't a very free life. Matthew Abud, Producer (MAbud): This is Matthew. I'm the producer of this podcast. Do you want to introduce yourself and whose story you're performing? Mary Aung (MAung): My name is Mary, and the story that I'm performing for is of a factory worker in Mae Sot. So, Mae Sot is a town in Thailand, which is really close to the border of Myanmar. So many people who face difficult situations, like economically, or because of the political situation, they would flee and Mae Sot would be the first town that they go to. Most of the time these people, they don't have the enough resources to go in the country through legal channels. And normally they will face really bad working situations as well, because they can't really tell the authorities that their employer is exploiting them because they are scared of getting captured. Garment Worker 2 (GW2): Before - before, I never ever imagined I would work in a garment factory. I never had that thought. Back then, our family was very united. For example, for New Year's, Tazaungdaing Festival, or Thadingyut Festival, for things like that, our family would have parties in the front yard. Our parents would set up a stage, and they would invite all their friends and all of our siblings' friends. They would cook and serve us food, and we'd eat, drink, and have fun together. We could have as much fun as we wanted, as long as we didn't cause any trouble. It was a very happy time. How has it changed? My mind. My mind isn't the same anymore. You see? The kind of mind I had before, the good feelings, it's not there anymore. Now, my family is scattered. My husband is a political prisoner. This kind of separation happened because he was involved in political activism. He was accused in a bombing case and was unjustly arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Before coming here, what did I do? I joined the protest matches. The things I did were many. I joined protest marches and was also involved in supporting others. The family responsibilities have fallen on my shoulders. So, because of that, I can't really think about or give time to that side of things. The main thing now is what should I do? How can I support my family? How can I provide for and raise my children? I have to think about these necessary things so much that my old life has just disappeared. Voice Actor 2 (VA2): I'm a voice actor. I can totally relate to her. Sounds like kind of similar situation that I've been through back in my country because of this military coup. It must be harder for her to go through because she's got this whole family, she's got children to take care of. That's why I'm very honoured and glad to be her voice, to tell her story. GW1: I was trimming threads. On fleece clothing, there are loose threads. Some you pull out and some you trim. And I did that until the factory closed down. It closed in May 2020. We first realized the factory was going to close when all of our orders completely stopped. In the 20-plus years we'd been working, that had never happened before. We started thinking, hey, our situation isn't good. What's going ...
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