BANGKOK // They toil high on scaffolding, pouring concrete and twisting iron bars. At night, they squeeze into shipping containers with their husbands by the dozens to get some rest.
They are female migrant construction workers, a rarity in most parts of the world, except Thailand.
The International Labour Organisation said in a report on Tuesday that more than 200,000 women from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos work in Thailand, making up almost 40 per cent of the migrant construction workers in the country.
By comparison, less than 9 per cent of construction workers in the US are women, according to the US bureau of labour statistics.
A 1990 survey found that among 49 developing countries Thailand was the only one where women made up more than 10 per cent of the construction workforce.
They work alongside men to smooth walls, lay bricks, and carry bags of cement on Bangkok’s high rises and railway digs.
But their large numbers do not shield them from the same problems women in the workforce face around the world. They are paid less and trained less. Their shipping container homes provide little security from rowdy male workers. Having a husband for protection is almost a prerequisite.
“Employers think of hiring women migrant workers as a ‘package’ with their husbands,” says Rebecca Napier-Moore, a co-author of the study. “They don’t value them as highly as men and think of them as secondary or ‘tag-alongs’.”
For many migrants working outside Asia, stringent salary requirements for family visas means that young men tend to leave their families, working to feed mouths thousands of miles away in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. But proximity and relatively porous borders allow Cambodians and Burmese to come together as a family to don hard hats in Thailand.
For decades, Thai law has required men and women to receive equal pay for equal work – but managers say that migrant women are paid less because they are less capable. Most women work as manual labourers, cleaning up the site or moving materials around, while men do more skilled work such as welding or masonry.
More than 70 per cent of the women surveyed earned wages as low as US$5.34 (Dh19.60) a day. Employers often do not pay on time, and will ask employees to lie about their wages on their contracts to get away with paying below the minimum daily wage of about $8.40.
“Men get paid more even when they have no construction experience,” said one Burmese woman cited in the study. “I think they get paid more because they are men.”
Some women, eager to earn more, stick around for hours of overtime every day and live in fear of getting pregnant.
“I use birth control pills,” said one Burmese woman. “I will not get paid if I am pregnant.”
Thai labour legislation provides for 90 days paid maternity leave – but many firms get around this regulation by firing women if they are discovered to be pregnant. Companies skirt safety regulations as well.
“They all have to get safety training, but it’s light,” a Bangkok project manager told the ILO.
“‘This is the helmet. You put it on. Thank you.’”
Though construction fatality statistics are unreliable, the ILO estimates that construction in developing countries is three to six times risker than in western nations. But even though the dangers are high for both men and women, some women reported that men had safety equipment training that women were excluded from.
The perils do not stop with chemical burns and heavy machinery. At night, women retreat to company-provided container housing – with clean water and electricity, but with dim lighting, thin walls, and no locks, prompting some to wire their doors shut, scared of the drunk men outside. Some rely on their husbands to keep them safe.
But the tough conditions have not stopped Cambodian and Burmese women from pouring into Thailand.
Many like the relative freedom of construction work, where unlike household cooks and maids they are not on-call 24 hours a day.
* Associated Press
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0
Essentials
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Seattle from Dh6,755 return in economy and Dh24,775 in business class.
The cruise
UnCruise Adventures offers a variety of small-ship cruises in Alaska and around the world. A 14-day Alaska’s Inside Passage and San Juans Cruise from Seattle to Juneau or reverse costs from $4,695 (Dh17,246), including accommodation, food and most activities. Trips in 2019 start in April and run until September.
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
RESULTS
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.
Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.
Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.
Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.
Paltan
Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Civil%20War
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