From Benar News

Hundreds of thousands of Myanmar workers in Thailand have to remit a part of their wages to their country’s ruling junta or risk losing their jobs under a new rule aimed at collecting foreign exchange and perpetuating army rule.

Myanmar’s economy has been in crisis since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021, facing significant economic challenges as conflict, macroeconomic instability and dislocation constrained production. The kyat currency has plunged from about 1,350 to the dollar before the coup to about 4,500 to the dollar now, fueling inflation.

The junta, battling a growing insurgency and widespread opposition to its rule, has responded with various measures including cracking down on gold and rice traders to stop them putting up their prices and on the property sector to prevent people buying condominiums abroad. 

In another effort to boost foreign reserves, the junta announced late last year that Myanmar nationals living and working in Thailand were required to pay Myanmar income tax, and it also began pressuring migrant workers to send their salaries home.

Now it is seeking more. In a directive that came into effect on Aug. 1, the junta said that the estimated 250,000 migrant workers in Thailand under a labor scheme agreed by the two governments must pay a quarter of their salary, or at least 6,000 baht (US$170), through junta-owned banks and agencies, over the three months before they apply to renew paperwork allowing them to stay in Thailand.

The junta is desperate for foreign currency and this is one way of collecting it.