200 Baht

Two hundred baht is just Php 280 or about $ 6. What can it buy in Bangkok? Well, it can buy food for two days or three Thai t-shirts or roam around Krung Thep for one day.

But for Arnel (not his real name), 200 baht is a treasure. He cannot do the things stated above for fear of being arrested by Thai police though Thai authorities are tolerant of illegal migrants. So literally, Arnel is “imprisoned” in the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok. I met him when I register at the Philippines Embassy in Sukhumvit Road this morning. He is not ashamed to asked for something to eat or financial help.

Having been stranded in Phuket for four months without any documents and money, his longing to go home to Lucena City in Quezon Province and settle for good. Through the help of friends and Filipinos in Phuket who contributed for his fare and pocket money, he braved the long travel from the Andaman side of Thailand to the City of Smile that is Bangkok.

He and nine others were recruited by a Malaysian to be stevedores cum linemen in a fishing vessel. Armed only with a High School level of educational attainment (some of his companions were able to reach elementary level only) and experience from the University of Life, they contemplated on the good things ahead as they will work abroad. Upon reaching Malaysia they were turned over to an agency and transferred to another boat. And so began their hardships.

Their boat was fishing in the Burmese side of the Andaman Sea to catch tuna. He recalled that their average sleep is only three hours . The fishing boat uses a long line to catch tuna so there was no definite time to haul the catch into the vessel. The moment their storage is full, there is a small boat that will ferry the tuna ashore. Most of their time were spent in the sea particularly in the waters of Burma. Exploited, over-worked, unpaid and ill-fed he raised their concern to their recruiter to no avail to the point that the Malaysian told him to jump ship and swim his way to the Philippines.

Fortunately, the vessel's machine broke down after four months at sea. So they docked at Phuket. At first they were told to hide at the engine room everytime there are Thai authorities to inspect the vessel. In January, he demanded the payment and humane treatment from their recruiter but his gripes fell on deaf Malaysian ears.

Having no options, he and a companion eventually jumped ship. They seek refuge to the small, closely-knitted Filipino community in the island paradise to be able to survive and accepted menial jobs. However, the daily wage of undocumented worker in Thailand is lower compared to documented ones. Aside from that, there is always the fear of being arrested. Further, the longing to go home in Lucena and see his loved ones is his utmost concern, hence he went to the embassy just only yesterday after months of hiding.

Arnel's situation is similar to the situation of other Filipinos who wanted to go outside the country, seek greener pastures and alleviate their family from the bondage of poverty. He even considered himself lucky because he was braved enough to try his luck in mainland Thailand. His guts and wits in finding the embassy in Bangkok, reporting their situation and submitting himself to the embassy officials is worthy of praise. But for the eight others who are still in that same hellish fishing boat sailing at Andaman Sea, only time will tell when will they go home to their families. Arnel does hope and pray that there shall be no tsunami to strike again in that part of Indian Ocean. With a bitter smile, he even counter-joked that who knows, tsunamis might bring his friends back to the Philippines.