Maid in Thailand
Taking a risk in the other land

By Azor Periera Egos

The Second Friendship Bridge above the Mekong river is the border between Thailand and Laos near Mukdahan respectively Savannakhet.

Some say live your life and be happy for what God have been given to you. But how can you live happily if you have nothing? How can you live peacefully if you need to hide? 

The fear of being discovered is accompanying Chompo every day. The 17-year-old woman from Laos lives and works illegally in Thailand. Nevertheless she has managed to let routine, and not desperation dominate her life.

She starts her day once she hears the rooster’s crows. The young pale woman with a pale skin and long dark hair cooks fries rice, sunny side up eggs and makes hot green tea. After that Chompo starts to clean the house and makes garden beautiful. She still reminisces about her childhood days in Laos. “I wanted to be a teacher”, she says. But her wish remained a dream.

Her parents forced her to travel and work illegally in Thailand. She is one out of the hundreds of foreign maids who illegally work in Thailand. She still remembers her dangerous journey to Thailand very well: “I hid at the back of the ten wheelers truck; Beer Lao delivery truck”, she says. “I didn’t have a passport and that is why my agency told me to do that.” Her run from the authorities started; sometimes she got caught. “I was afraid every time. I thought they would send me back home but they just asked for money and then left”, she explains. “I was so lucky because some illegal workers like me are put in jail.”

Due to her experiences, Chompo prefers to stay inside the house. She is happy with her work. “I do the cooking, cleaning the housing and washing the clothes”, she says. Though sometimes she wants to go out and see what Bangkok is like. But without legal documents this would mean an unnecessary risk.

Mr. Tip, her boss, once tried to help her to get a legal document but it turned out to be too expensive and many papers would be needed. Nawix (Mr Tip’s daughter) is one of her close friends. Mr. Tip’s young son is like her little brother in Laos. “I miss my family”, she says. “But I need to work for them”. “She is a very active and very helpful person” Namix says. Mr. Tip didn’t like to accept her at first because she doesn’t have passport or any legal documents. “I accept her because she is nice and if the police caught her, then I’ll just give them money”, Mr. Tip says.

Chompo works for her family in Laos. She earns 6,000 Baht then she sends it to her family every month and in Laos currency its 1,535,161 kips. Chompo’s mother doesn’t have work and her father is a farmer.

The young woman doesn’t have plan to go back home to Laos. She wants to stay, work, help her family and she wants to save money for herself.

Now Chompo’s friend, Nia, 17, from Laos is also working as a maid at the same house. Chompo’s and her friend help each other for everyday works. Her friend is really shy, she doesn’t want to speak, and she doesn’t like to say how she crossed the border? “I bet she’s still afraid and she’s still remembered the horrible experienced of crossing the border of Laos and Thailand”, Chompo says, “Well, it was very awful experienced for me to crossed and hid from the immigration.”

Chompo lives in Laos and her life in Thailand is totally different. She was studying in Laos, helping her father in the farm after school. In Thailand she’s working as a maid and hiding from the hands of authorities. Now she already copes the way of living of illegal worker in Thailand.“

My life here is better I earn money and I help my family”, she says. But there is a long shadow. She can be exploited and no one would know it. She can be deported because she is illegal. She always has to be careful about what she does and says.

“Well, I’m living on the edge of a knife”, she says.

Copyright © Azor Periera Egos