This case study examines the immediate and longer-term consequences of the 2011 floods in
Thailand on migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. It was conducted as part of
the EU-funded project Migrants in Countries in Crisis: Supporting an Evidence-Based Approach for
Effective and Cooperative State Action. Under this project, six case studies were prepared. The
current report represents one of these. Due to the nature of the 2011 flood disaster in Thailand and
the relatively fast rebound of the Thai economy, most of the migrants affected by the crisis were still in
Thailand at the time this research was done. For many of them, the longer-term effects of the disaster
stemmed mainly from their experiences during the crisis, the choices they made to cope and other
events in the aftermath of the floods, particularly changes in Thailand’s migrant registration system.
Methodology
This research used desk research and semi-structured interviews. Information for the case study was
collected between March 2016 and October 2016. Most interviews were conducted in Thailand from
March 2016 to June 2016, though five interviews were conducted in the following months by Skype. A
variety of stakeholders were approached: migrant workers, government representatives, international
organisations, civil society organisations (CSO), employers, landlords and experts. Interview subjects
were selected based on their experience of the 2011 floods, their involvement in the 2011 crisis
response or their expertise in working in situations of natural disaster or in working with migrants.