Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

356 SESSION V
restaurant entrepreneur, a glossary store, a video rental
shop, and a computer graphic shop.
Among the interviewees, there were 19 Thai female
migrants who had been working as commercial sex
workers (CSWs) since first arriving in Japan. Eleven of
them were still working as CSWs. Unfortunately, on
the interview date, some were arrested by the police;
some of these escaped to ask for assistance from the
Thai Embassy in Tokyo. As a result, these 11 women
are being deported to Thailand. For the other eight
women, they had already paid off all of their debts, and
thus did not work as CSWs anymore. Of these former
sex workers, two of them remained working in snack
bars as waitresses, and one opened a massage parlor
with hidden sex services. Five of them worked as daily
wage workers with less income earning than as CSWs
but more peace of mind. Two out of the five had gotten
married, with a three year old child and a five year old
child, respectively. As a result, they have to take care of
the children and have less time to work outside of the
home.
Legal Work & Income
Those who work legally under employment contracts
such as domestic worker can earn at least 150,000-
250,000 Yen per month (US$1,400-2,400 or
THB60,000-97,000). Some immigrant workers who
work at spare-time jobs can also earn some more
money. Normally, the contractual domestic workers live
in the employers’ house with free food, accommodation
and one day off per week. There are also some other
contractual workers such as chefs and trainees. These
contractual groups also can receive salaries and welfare
benefits. For the trainees, they receive a trainee’s salary
and fewer benefits than the permanent employees.
Most worked as factory workers at jobs that required
vocational school or college graduation and an age
between 20 and 25 years old. The trainee contracts are
for three years. After deducting the accommodation,
water and electricity costs, the trainees can earn only
135,000 Yen per month (US$1,300 or THB5,300). As
a result, they need to work over-time in order to earn
40,000-50,000 Yen more per month (US$380-470 or
THB15,000-20,000).
Skills from Abroad
The experiences that Thai migrant workers can gain in
Japan, especially those who are semi-skilled laborers,
both legal and illegal, are as follows: welding metal, steel
work using computers and robots, woodcraft, furniture
making, machine repair, car gadget repair, domestic
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
work such as cooking, party setting, house cleaning,
child care, Japanese, Korean and Thai food cooking in
restaurants, new agricultural techniques for fruit farms
and large animal farms, and Japanese language skills.
Financial Management
In terms of financial status and financial management,
around one fifth of respondents (14 persons, 20.9%)
are in debt. However, 53 respondents (79.1%) had no
debt. Eleven female respondents (16.4%) were among
those still in debt, but only three male respondents
(4.5%). The women who worked as CSWs were likely
to be more indebted. During the survey, there were five
CSWs who still indebted to their employers (Mamasan).
If these women are arrested, they will no longer
need to repay the debt to Mama-san. However, some
interviewees were followed up by the women trafficking
crime network when they returned to Thailand. Some
respondents also still need to pay other debts occurring
in Thailand such as house building and debt from
restaurant business insolvency. In addition, there were
also some migrant workers who owed excessive amounts
of money in Japan for medical care because they had no
health insurance due to their illegal working status. For
example, one respondent owed the hospital 900,000 Yen
(US$8,500 or THB350,000) for a stomach operation.
He has to repay 50,000 Yen (US$470 or THB20,000)
to the hospital every month. A son of a Thai migrant
worker was ill from Thalassaemia and went to the
hospital. The Thalassaemia treatment cost 2,300,000
Yen (US$22,000 or THB900,000). Fortunately, the
employer helped them to pay that amount to the
hospital first and agreed to deduct the money from the
Thai worker every month for the next two years.
Remittance
The survey also found that most Thai workers sent home
remittances (94%). There were only four Thai migrant
workers (6%) who did not send home remittance, all
of them women who were trafficked as CSWs in Japan.
Three of them decided to escape from the snack bar
three days after arrival Japan, since they were being
forced to provide sex services. The other woman escaped
a month after she arrived in Japan. As a result, these
women have no savings and cannot send remittances to
Thailand yet.
There were several reasons for the Thai migrant workers
in Japan to send remittances to Thailand, including high
family living costs in Thailand, children’s educational
costs, paying for family debts, paying their parents for
child care, paying for their parents’ living costs, and