Many laborers have left for Thailand in search of better jobs, forcing landowners to increase the daily rate for workers replanting paddy to 3,500 Kyat from 2,500 – the rate for the last two years.

Farmers in Mon and Karen states have just started replanting paddy for the season.

A farmer in Andin village, Mon state, said he has paid up to 4,500 Kyat for male workers in northern Ye township.

“The payment could increase before the end of the season,” he added. Farm owners in the region claimed they are having difficulty finding daily workers in Mon state and have to search for workers from other parts of Burma.

“We cannot get workers from our village, so we have to hire from other villages,” said a farm owner in Zarthapyin village, Hpa-an township, Karen State.

Over the past 10 years, Mon state farm owners have relied on workers from Karen state, where there is less farmland for replanting paddy and therefore less demand for labor. However, Mon state farm owners cannot find Karen workers this year.

Many young people in Mon and Karen states seek higher-paying jobs in Thailand.

Farm owners, however, have had better luck when recruiting laborers from Pegu division and the Irrawaddy delta, where jobs are scarce. A Mudon township farmer from Mon state said he hired daily workers from these divisions at lower wages – 2,000 Kyat.