Abstract
Thailand is a regional migration hub in ASEAN and hosts more than 3.9 million migrant workers, representing 10% of the country's workforce. Thailand plans to move from pandemic to endemic or live with the virus as a new normal since over half the country's population has been vaccinated. However, it was estimated that an estimated 1.3 million irregular migrant workers uninsured with Social Security Schemes (SSS) were unvaccinated. This study examined the barriers faced by the Burmese irregular migrants' in Thailand to access COVID-19 vaccination. This study employed a mixed-method case study design and a multi-stage sampling technique. A total of 398 completed the online questionnaires, and 40 were interviewed. A socio-ecological model guided the study, and findings revealed that face multiple challenges, including unaffordability due to high cost and a lack of free vaccination, geographic challenges, factory lockdown, absence of availability of free NGOs vaccination, perceived low quality, living with rumours, language barriers and an unfamiliar registration process, public discrimination, and the fear of being arrested for going out due to their irregular status. The Thai government should consider the vaccination of all immigrants regardless of their status to prevent further casualties and halt the global health crisis.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 25 Jun 2022 |
Event | The 18th East Asian Social Policy (EASP) Conference: Transformation of Post-Covid Welfare States in East Asia: Beyond Productivist Welfare Capitalism? - Yonsei University, South Korea , Korea, Republic of Duration: 24 Jun 2022 → 25 Jun 2022 https://welfareasia.org/archives/date/2022/07 https://welfareasia.org/archives/582 |
Conference
Conference | The 18th East Asian Social Policy (EASP) Conference |
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Abbreviated title | EASP 2022 |
Country/Territory | Korea, Republic of |
City | South Korea |
Period | 24/06/22 → 25/06/22 |
Internet address |