Case Study of Tobacco Use among Myanmar Migrant Factory Workers in the Seafood Industry in Thailand

Naowarut Charoenca, Nan Khin Thet Chaw, Nipapun Kungskulniti and Stephen L. Hamann
Additional contact information
Naowarut Charoenca: Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Nan Khin Thet Chaw: International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mae Hong Son 58000, Thailand
Nipapun Kungskulniti: Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Stephen L. Hamann: Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-10

Abstract: Migrant workers commonly face many health disparities when they relocate to a foreign work environment. Many workers migrating to Thailand are young unskilled workers from Myanmar. In this study, we examine factors associated with Myanmar migrant workers’ smoking status and characterized smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in one seafood factory in Thailand. This descriptive study utilized person-to-person interviews among 300 Myanmar migrants in one seafood factory in Thailand, of which 94.3% were young males between 18 and 39 years of age. Results demonstrated that 90% were current daily smokers, over 90% smoked 30–60 times per month, and 95% spent less than 500 baht (US $16) per month on smoking. About 70% of current smokers had 6–10 friends who smoked, compared with 40% of non-smokers (chi-square, p -value ? 0.07). Among this sample of mainly male migrant workers, smoking is very common, in part driven through social contact, but levels of dependence appear relatively low. The results suggest potential intervention approaches to reduce high smoking prevalence among this population, such as targeting young males and addressing their concerns about negative attitudes by peers to tobacco use and the unhealthful exposures of women and children in their families and the larger community.

Keywords: smoking; Myanmar; migrants; psychosocial factors; non-communicable disease burden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8659/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8659/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:16:p:8659-:d:615569

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().