3,000 migrants join Mon National Day celebration in Phuket

Nai Saing – More than 3,000 Mon migrant workers joined in Mon National Day (MND) celebrations on the Thai island of Phuket at Nar Gut Mountain, where the ‘Big Buddah’ statue is situated. The event was organized by Mon Unity League (MUL) and a local migrant workers’ organization.
 
Mon migrant workers primarily work in the many rubber plantations in mountainous areas, as well as on various beaches that line the 60-kilometer-long island. The migrants were brought to the ceremony with various kinds of trucks before they ascended the mountain. 
 
“In the past, our Mon people established our own kingdom and practiced our rights fully. Now, we have lost our country, and our people have to flee from our home. Therefore, we have to struggle to gain our rights to self-determination,” said Nai Damrong Pungbangkadee, a leader of Thai-Mon people.
 
Many Thai-Mon leaders, leaders of the MUL, and migrant workers collaborated to organize the MND ceremony to mark the important day.
 
“I have come twenty kilometers from a rubber plantation. I told my employer to give me a free day today. I am really glad to hear what our Mon leaders said.”
 
Many Thai-Mon leaders from Bangkok and other parts of Thailand joined the event not only to participate in Mon National Day, but also to donate a statue of a well-known Mon monk, Lungphaw Uttama.
 
“I enjoy coming here, as we have two purposes today: making merit at this Big Buddha, and marking Mon National Day,” said a Thai-Mon attendee. 
 
Thousands of Mon migrant workers are working at selling groceries, on rubber plantations, and in Phuket’s tourist industry, and many of them made their way to the top of the island’s Nar Gut Mountain, a distance of six kilometers.
 
A MUL statement was read by its representative who explained the situation in Burma and ethnic minorities’ struggle for self-determination and their desire to establish a federal union of Burma. 
 
The statement also highlighted recent developments in the political situation in Burma, and reiterated the MUL’s demand that peace be established in the country.