How many unidentified bodies are likely to be Burmese?

When the tsunami hit southern Thailand last year, hundreds of Burmese migrants working in beach front hotels were among the victims. Thai officials have identified 80 Burmese migrant workers among the dead. (27) But they believe several of the more than 800 unidentified bodies are likely to be Burmese. Thousands of Burmese migrant workers are employed along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast—a source of cheap labor for contractors who often overlook the need to register the workers. (28) Those who survived the December 2004 tsunami often found their jobs, homes and belongings were gone, and that they were unable to get government aid. Adisorn Kurdmongkol, a Thai labor activist, says the disaster called attention to the problems the Burmese migrants faced even before the tsunami.