Thousands of Burmese migrants face unemployment after new minimum wage requirements imposed by the Thai government earlier this month forced several factories and workshops to close down. Many businesses, who employ cheap labour from neighbouring Burma, Cambodia and Laos, cannot afford to pay their workers the 300 Baht (USD$10) daily wage required by law since 1 January. According to Thai media, dozens of factories have been closed, including some eight garments, electronics and ceramic producers based in Tak province near the Burmese border. Thousands of jobs are estimated to have been lost...Many workers have staged protests against the abrupt closure of their workplaces. On 2 January, around 200 workers at an underwear factory in Saraburi province rallied against their employer’s decision to close down without giving any advance notice.