It was still early in the morning, but a large crowd of people were already waiting to see doctors at a local hospital in Phangnga province, Win Win (not her real name) and her husband were among the crowd.
They could feel the stares of Thai locals, and perhaps could understand some of the murmuring about Burmese workers coming to use Thai health care services.
"There are not enough doctors and nurses for us. Why should these Burmese be able to come use our hospital?" asked one local. A more thoughtful local replied that they might harbour fatal diseases that if untreated could spread among the general population.
The discussion in the hospital emergency ward went far beyond health care, and touched on a number of prejudices commonly held against migrant workers.
Areerat, from Kuraburi district in Phangnga, said that in Kuraburi hospitals Burmese sometimes made up more than 50 percent of the total number of patients. She complained that some Thai people who were born on Phrathong island, but hold no Thai ID cards because they were never issued birth certificates, get less benefits.
"Some of us have to pay in full, while Burmese pay only 30 baht," she said.
It is not only members of the general public who play on unfounded fears and stereotypes to make the case that these undocumented workers are taking away health care services from native Thais. At a meeting recently organised by Medicins San Frontiers on the third anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, many participating public health officials expressed some similar biases.
"We treat these Burmese better than Thais," one said, to widespread agreement. Many came up with similar complaints against both registered and non- registered migrant workers. Perhaps this is understandable, as these public health officials have to work harder while making the same amount of money providing services for many more people who may not even pay taxes.
One official explained that the head count for hospital budget and personnel purposes was based on the number of Thai citizens in an area, regardless of the number of Burmese who also use the hospitals. He said that ethics would not permit them to turn away the foreigners, but the central government is uninterested or unaware of their predicament.
Yet another official from the Phangnga Provincial Public Health Department said that in 2007, three million baht of the allocated budget went to all local hospital in Phangnga to care for migrant labourers.