Relief vehicles from the Chiang Rai Migrant Workers Assistance Center heading to Mandalay. Photo from Facebook page of Suebsakun Kidnukorn

This article by Patchsita Rungrojtanakul was originally published by Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand. An edited version has been republished by Global Voices under a content-sharing agreement.

Small groups of Thais and Myanmar nationals in Thailand are still working tirelessly to collect donations and deliver them to victims through grassroots networks, after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake centred in Sagaing and Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 28, 2025, believing that aid sent through the Myanmar junta may never reach those truly in need.

Myanmar’s junta has been able to provide only limited assistance to the public, as it continues to wage civil war. While the junta declared a ceasefire on April 2, due to the widespread damage from the quake, it has had little effect, with airstrikes continuing in areas controlled by opposition forces, including attacks on those affected by the disaster.

One month after the disaster, the death toll had reached 4,461, with 11,366 injured, according to a Democratic Voice of Burma's report, which cited data from the military government, the National Unity Government (NUG), and credible media sources.

While grassroots relief is believed to be one of the most effective ways to help, experts and organizers say these networks have to remain hidden from the Myanmar authorities, and some aid efforts are facing logistical challenges.

The junta’s obstruction and logistical obstacles have become even more restrictive as humanitarian aid efforts enter the rebuilding phase. Victims now need not only money and supplies, but also larger materials to rebuild their homes and lives.

From Samut Sakhon to Sagaing

“Normally, Friday is my day off. I was resting on the office sofa. But when I felt the tremors, I immediately knew what had happened,” said Ko Zaw, a 44-year-old man from Dawei.

Ko Zaw has lived in Thailand since his teenage years. At first, he didn’t speak a word of Thai, but after 20 years, he can communicate fluently without an interpreter.

The next day, he and about six friends began collecting donations and raised TBH 10,000 (USD 300). To date, the total has reached  TBH 400,000 (USD 12,250 ) — not a small amount, considering it was raised by migrant workers who themselves face many hardships in Thailand.

Ko Zaw said some donated just a few hundred baht via bank transfer, while others drove over to hand in cash directly. In some factories or companies, workers pooled their money to contribute amounts in the thousands or even tens of thousands of baht.

Ko Zaw said his group distributed funds to Sagaing and Mandalay through officials of the NUG, the civilian government-in-exile. He added that they also sent additional aid to Sagaing via members of the People’s Defence Force, the NUG’s armed wing.

Currently, most of the Sagaing region is under the control of pro-democracy resistance forces. According to a 2024 BBC investigation, “the military only has full control of 21 percent of Myanmar’s territory,” while “ethnic armies and a patchwork of resistance groups now control 42 percent of the country’s land mass.”

Mistrusting the junta

When asked why he chose to send funds to the resistance, Ko Zaw replied immediately: to him, not trusting the junta is just common sense.

Everyone knows that for the more than 70 years that Burma has had military governments, they put money into their pockets. They don’t help the people and we can’t check.

To prove the resistance’s trustworthiness, he showed photos of the donations being handed over by them, with the faces in the images blurred in advance.

Khin Omar, a founder of the human rights organization Progressive Voice, discussed the role of cross-border assistance at a public forum marking one month since the earthquake, organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

This group has received very little humanitarian assistance from the international community. They are forced to flee airstrikes and conflict situations, and the military has blocked aid which should be sent to those fleeing the war.

There is only support from like-minded donors. In addition, there are donors working with civil society and organizations in local communities, health service providers of ethnic groups, or what can be called informal cross-border assistance. This has proven to be the most effective method of delivering aid to the most vulnerable groups in the country over the past four years.

Key players: workers’ communities

In Chiang Mai, an area with a sizable Myanmar migrant population, Sanimthoon (“Capital’s Rust”), a small Burmese restaurant, has become a key player in coordinating grassroots humanitarian aid efforts.

Five days after the earthquake, its Facebook page announced to donors that the amount of donations sent to each area would depend on the conditions in that area and the distribution capacity of the volunteer network. Most of the local volunteers are young people who face the risk of arrest or forced conscription.

Sanimthoon regularly provides updates on the ongoing aid efforts, including the transfer of funds through labour networks in Sagaing and Mandalay, and through teacher groups in Naypyidaw for further distribution. They also inform donors about what the transferred money will cover, including emergency shelters, mosquito nets, and water filters for remote villages, as well as the cost of transporting medicine from Thailand to Myanmar.

In these updates, the names of volunteers, communities, and local organizations in Myanmar are not disclosed for safety reasons. However, the names of organizations and networks in Thailand will be given with their consent to ensure transparency.

Regarding the money transfers, we keep the names and identities of the recipient organizations confidential for safety reasons. Sometimes, we can transfer money directly to volunteers, but at other times, we have to go through intermediaries in Thailand because the area is difficult, and even the representatives in Myanmar are at risk.

Even taking pictures of the donated money could be used by the Myanmar military as evidence to make arrests. Therefore, we do not ask volunteers to send back pictures of the donations. If it’s OK for them to send pictures back later, they must also rely on an internet connection.

Logistical challenges

Suebsakun Kidnukorn, a lecturer at the School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University, and coordinator of the Chiang Rai Migrant Workers Assistance Center, which he founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, said that humanitarian aid for earthquake victims in Myanmar has now entered the rebuilding phase, with a particular focus on housing.

This includes both severely damaged areas that need to be rebuilt and those that can still be repaired. At present, the most urgently needed items are mosquito nets, blankets, and materials for home repairs. However, when it comes to larger repair tools, transportation becomes a challenge for grassroots communities, making government-to-government agreements essential.

He recalls that shortly after the earthquake, the Chiang Rai Migrant Worker Assistance Center launched an emergency relief drive, collecting rice, dry foods, shrouds, and money. The initiative received strong support from the Myanmar migrant worker network and Myanmar students in Chiang Rai.

Relief items from the Center were sent to communities in Mandalay and Sagaing, the hardest-hit regions, including the town of Kyaukse in Mandalay. Thailand’s Chiang Rai borders the town of Tachileik in Myanmar’s Shan State. From there, goods can be transported by truck. Although this route does not pass through conflict zones, it takes more than three days to reach the destination.

The biggest obstacle to this effort is road conditions in Myanmar, which were severely damaged by the 2024 floods.

We coordinate with local organizations who provide assistance. The trucks carry visible signs, and transport visible items. There are certification letters [from the receiving organizations at the destination].

Suebsakun confirmed that the aid delivery does not go through the military government, but the names of the receiving organizations are withheld for security reasons.

“Outside of the major cities, the military already checks and then tries to block the flow of aid,” said Dr Tun Aung Shwe, a medical doctor and NUG’s representative in Australia. “They’re finding other ways. So it’s getting there, but it’s taking longer.”

*This report published by Prachatai is supported by IOM through the Migration Reporting Grant Program.