Desperate for revenue, the Min Aung Hlaing regime is again using the Certificate of Identity (CI) process to extract money from undocumented Myanmar migrants in Thailand, forcing them to shoulder even greater financial hardship.
The regime recently added new rules to the CI process, requiring migrants to use the regime’s official channels for 25 percent of their remittances before applying for the certificate.
The CI is a temporary document intermittently issued by Myanmar that serves as an alternative to a passport for migrant workers in Thailand, allowing them to secure a legal work permit.
Regime Labor Minister Maung Myint told Parliament on Thursday that five centers issuing CIs started operating on Wednesday in Thailand’s Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Surat Thani.
The new order requires workers to provide proof of remitting 6,000 baht (about US$180) through official channels, equivalent to 25 percent of three months’ wages calculated on a fixed monthly salary of 8,000 baht, as well as proof of payment of 2 percent income tax. Newly appointed regime Labor Minister Maung Myint said remittances are a matter of “national interest,” and workers should consider them “a donation” to the country.
The move is part of the regime’s longstanding effort to extract foreign currency from overseas workers, including through the income tax and mandatory 25-percent remittance rule introduced in 2023.
Groups assisting migrant workers said the new requirements would complicate the employment process, potentially leading to higher costs for workers.
“Many workers do not have stable jobs,” a member of a migrant assistance group told The Irrawaddy. “How can they transfer the money, when they are already struggling with the cost?”
Complicating the process by requiring more documents would create space for service providers to charge more money, he said.
The CI application costs around 3,600 baht, but workers must rely on service providers or agents, who normally charge between 7,000 and 15,000 baht, including service fees, though precise costs under the latest rules remain unclear.
A migrant worker in Thailand told The Irrawaddy that the agent who managed his CI application process charged around 15,000 baht.
The amount is paid in installments to his employer through deductions from his monthly wages, reducing the amount he could send home.
“I send less money to my family. Everyone around me has to do the same thing,” he said.
Meanwhile, service providers said families of some workers in Myanmar do not have access to the banking system, making it more difficult to obtain proof of remittance transfers.
“Some workers’ families live in remote areas. It is not easy for them to withdraw the money,” a service provider told The Irrawaddy. He added that the regime was also likely to introduce stricter checks on applicants and their supporting documents.
U Set Aung, an economist and former deputy minister of planning and finance under the ousted civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday that low-wage Myanmar workers in Thailand were struggling to cover their living expenses and could not afford to remit 25 percent of their wages.
“The amount workers send home should be their own decision,” he said.
He added that the policy was designed solely to benefit the regime, rather than to support families and formal banking use.
“When remittances are converted at exchange rates below prevailing market rates, workers and their families suffer additional financial losses,” he said. “It raises serious concerns about freedom of movement, the right to pursue a livelihood, and fundamental labor rights.”
As the Myanmar regime steps up efforts to squeeze remittances from overseas workers, workers in Thailand are a prime target. Thailand hosted nearly 3 million Myanmar workers as of November 2025, according to official Thai figures. But the real number is likely to be much higher as many workers are undocumented.
Labor Minister Maung Myint said on Thursday that remittances from Myanmar migrant workers abroad totaled $5.6 billion in 2025. Experts say the regime’s remittance controls have cut a vital financial lifeline for the Myanmar population, which has been badly affected by conflict and economic collapse triggered by the 2021 coup that brought the regime to power.