The Life of Cambodian Workers in Thailand: Hope, Fear, and Love

Hello, my name is Aunt Pry, from Cambodia.

Why did you come to work in Thailand?

I came to work in Thailand because I wanted to raise money for my aunt to build a house. My house was poor. I didn't have money. When I was young, I used to sell it to raise money for debt. But luckily, my aunt saved me and adopted me. At that time, I was so happy that I didn't get sold. So I came to Thailand to work and raise money for my aunt.

I've been in Thailand since I was 15 years old. Now I'm 40 years old. My first job in Thailand was as a housewife at the company. I was very happy because I had money to send to my aunt. But later, the company I worked for had to close the business. Because the company had no job and no money to pay the employees, I had to close the business. I felt terrible that I didn't have a job and no money to send to my aunt.

But I didn't remain silent and went out looking for a new job until I got a new job, gardening. My boss was very kind. He accepted me into the job. I never disgust me. I was Cambodian. I was so happy to see this boss. This was a turning point in my life. I had the money to send home to Cambodia and build a house for my aunt.

And I had a dream of sending my brother to finish school. Later, I met my Burmese husband who worked at the same place as me. It was great to see this husband. He helped me from my first job to this day. He helped me all the time. He was very good to me and hoped for me. And he helped me raise money to build a house in Cambodia.

And then there was a war. I felt that Thai people looked bad at Cambodia. At that time, I didn't dare to go out to see anyone because I was so scared. I was afraid that I would be hurt. Because I looked on my mobile phone, someone attacked Cambodian people. I was very scared. At that time, I was shocked. But my husband encouraged me and made me fight today. Cambodian people are not all bad people. Good people have. We can't judge anyone.

I am lucky and happy to be in Thailand. I love Thailand because Thailand gives me money to send to my aunt.

Thai pride is that Thai people are kind, thoughtful and helpful to foreigners, not averse to the poor.

My favorite culture in Thailand is Songkran and Loi Krathong.

What I want to say to my boss is, I want to tell my boss that I thank my boss so much for giving me the money and giving me the job. I'm so happy that I work here. My boss is so kind. Thank you for giving me the money to my aunt.