MMN collaborative research publication, “Surviving the Pandemic: To Stay or Go? A Study into the Decision-making of Mekong Migrants” provides an in-depth analysis of the individual decisions migrants make to cope with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on their livelihoods, physical and mental health. Based on qualitative interviews with migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar in Thailand and recent returnees of those nationalities, supplemented by key informant interviews, the study examines what factors, shaped (or influenced) their decisions to either remain in Thailand or return to countries of origin. It provides a textured account of the decisions made by migrants already in precarious positions as they weathered the wave of redundancies and border closures, along with thoughts on how migrant decision-making can inform policy as we move through the pandemic era.

Read the briefer in English, Thai, and Burmese, or download the full report here.