A new route from Yangon to Phuket has been launched by a Burmese airline. On Thursdays, Sundays, and weekends, the flight will operate. According to a report that published in yesterday’s Bangkok Post, Myanmar Airways International revealed the flight to the media during a press conference. The newly launched flight is intended to help both relocating employees and guests planning extended stays. According to MAI Sales and Marketing Manager Sathit Rodnimit, a one-way ticket from Phuket to Yangon, where migrant workers are based, costs 4,700 Thai Baht. Many of Myanmar’s officially recognized migrant workers, according to Sathit, desire to return home. Sathit further stated that foreign travelers to Phuket are the target audience for the aircraft. A round-trip ticket, according to his information, “begins at 6,000 Baht with 30 kg of checked luggage.” According to Phuket’s deputy governor Pichet, 47,000 migrant workers are now getting work licenses on the island of Phuket. He did however say that he hoped Phuket would draw wealthy Burmese tourists. The country of Thailand, according to Pairoj Chotikasathien, director-general of the Department of Employment, has roughly 2.5 million lawfully registered migrant workers. During that month, the Cabinet passed labor management laws, one of which gave legal employees from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar permission to remain in the nation until February 13, 2025. Despite the fact that most Burmese who travel to Thailand do so for economic reasons, others do so to flee persecution at home. This is particularly true for underprivileged groups like the Karen hill tribe. According to a survey conducted by the Thai Ministry of the Interior, 4.3% of illegal labor migrants from Myanmar and Cambodia entered Thailand as a result of political persecution and forced labor.
