Mae Sot Field ResearchA student project
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Field media

Photos and videos

My two videos, and photographs from Mae Sot: the people I met, where they live, learn and trade, and the goods bought for one of the four plans. Everyone whose face can be seen here agreed to be shown.

19 photographs · 2 videos

Videos

Read the transcript

I went to Mae Sot, on the Thai–Myanmar border, to research displaced Myanmar people and their small business ideas. Before this trip, I felt lack of money was the main problem. After talking to many people on site, my whole view shifted. It is not just about missing capital. Legal status limits, no access to banks, and shrinking international aid all stack up against them. Even good business plans get stuck before they can start. On this site, you will read four anonymous real-life cases. These people have practical skills and clear plans. Yet they face walls they cannot break down by hard work alone. I hope when you look through this project, you will think beyond simple give-money answers and see the big structural barriers shaping their lives.

My introduction to the project.
Read the transcript

Welcome to the closing walkthrough. I will walk you through what I built, what I learned, and also honestly talk about what I got help with. This website contains four anonymous real-problem cases from my field interviews. Each story shows a displaced person's business dream and the real-world blocks they hit. You can also find a business math card, which explains how thin profit margins are for tiny border-side businesses. Doing this fieldwork changed my thinking a lot. I used to believe microloans could fix most livelihood problems. From interviews with vendors, teachers, youth, and NGO workers, I learned that money is only one piece. Without legal permission to run a business and without stable outside support, cash alone cannot make these projects work. I did the interviews, note-taking, and most writing myself, but also got help from local interpreters and community contacts in Mae Sot. I also relied on reports and expert interviews to check facts. This project is not my solo achievement. This project documents real-world situations. It cannot solve big policy or funding problems. If you want to learn more, please check on this page. Thank you for viewing.

My closing walkthrough of the project. The business math card it mentions, “What one box of biscuits earns”, is on the exhibition page.

Visits

Seven people sit on the floor under a corrugated-metal roof, most of them on a patterned mat. A young woman pours water from a bottle while an older woman sits by a low table of dishes, with sewing machines and hanging clothes around the room.

We sat down together on the floor among the sewing machines, with water being poured and plates of food on a low table.

Three people walk along a dirt path under tall bamboo and trees. A young man in a wide-brimmed hat with a woven shoulder bag glances to the side, and someone in the foreground holds up a small handheld camera.

We went on foot along a narrow dirt track past tall bamboo and banana plants, with one of us filming as we walked.

Learning spaces

About twenty children in yellow polo shirts sit or stand at long green and yellow tables with notebooks, many smiling at the camera. A woman in a yellow shirt stands at the back of a room with orange, red, yellow, green and blue walls.

A class I visited, where children in yellow uniforms share long painted tables under a metal roof.

A wooden lectern with a microphone stands in front of green benches where children and a few adults sit facing the camera, in a hall with breeze-block walls and a timber ceiling.

The view from the front of a hall I visited: past the lectern, children and adults sat row after row on long benches.

Homes

A raised house of wooden poles and woven bamboo with a roof of dried leaves, surrounded by trees. Clothes hang along a rail under the roof, and a small child stands beside a blue bicycle beneath the raised floor.

A house raised on wooden posts and open at the front, with clothes hung in a row under its roof of dried leaves and a hammock slung in the shade below.

The shaded space beneath a raised house: a packed-dirt floor, wooden posts, rows of shirts on hangers, a hammock, a loudspeaker and a low bamboo platform at the back.

In the shade beneath a raised house: a hammock tied to one of the wooden posts, a ladder leaning at the side, and shoes and sandals on the dirt floor.

Small shops

A narrow shop doorway between two weathered posters in Burmese script. Inside, bagged snacks hang from the ceiling above baskets, a shoe rack and shelves of packaged goods.

I looked in through the doorway of a small shop framed by health posters in Burmese. Inside was a bit of everything, from snacks and shoes to a clear display case packed with small everyday items.

Wooden shelves stacked with trays of eggs, a tray of dried red chillies, bundles of yellow noodles, jars, bottled sauces and bagged dry goods, with a weighing scale on the floor.

I saw food kept together on a few shelves: eggs, dried chillies and bundles of noodles, with a bunch of fresh greens and a basket of small red onions close by.

A dim storeroom lined with shelves holding cardboard boxes, plastic tubs, a blue plastic drum, jars and egg trays, with a dial weighing scale on the concrete floor.

The shelves here were full: tins of fish, plastic drums, baskets and tubs, with more bags hanging from the wooden beams and daylight coming in through wire mesh at the back.

Cardboard cases of orange juice, packs of biscuits and rows of plastic bags holding bottled water, stacked on the ground in front of a wooden table of baskets and packaged food.

Drinks and snacks lined up on the ground: bag after bag of bottled water, cases of juice and soy milk, and biscuits piled on a box, with baskets of dry goods on the table behind.

The GED student's first batch of goods

A child's stationery set on a wooden floor: a twelve-pack of colouring pencils, gel pens, and unicorn-themed pencil and eraser sets, all in their retail packaging.

Colouring pencils, gel pens and unicorn-themed stationery sets, still in their packaging. These small, cheap goods were part of the GED student's first batch.

A neat stack of folded corduroy zip pouches in floral and plain patterns, with woven drawstrings, resting on a wooden floor.

Folded corduroy zip pouches in floral and plain patterns. They are light and easy to pack, which matters when goods have to cross the border.

An assortment of hair clips and barrettes — including plush animal clips and carded sets — spread across a wooden floor.

Hair clips and barrettes, including plush animal clips on cards. Everyday items like these were what her family's shop in Myanmar could resell.

A pile of hair accessories on a wooden floor: satin bows, ribboned clips and carded barrettes in pink, navy and patterned designs.

Satin bows, ribboned clips and carded barrettes in pink, navy and patterned designs: more goods from the same first batch.

Fabric pouches, scrunchies and small plush items gathered together inside a clear plastic bag.

Fabric pouches, scrunchies and small plush items packed together in a clear plastic bag, ready for the trip to her family's shop in Myanmar.

Two plush animal keychains — a cat and a capybara — resting on the cover of a school exercise book.

Two plush animal keychains, a cat and a capybara, on a school exercise book. Each item is cheap, so the profit comes from the price difference.

Packaged stainless-steel fork-and-spoon sets with translucent pink and blue handles, laid out on a table.

Stainless-steel fork-and-spoon sets with pink and blue handles, still packaged. Not everything in the batch was a toy or an accessory.

A cluster of plush keychains and pom-pom charms in several colours and characters, gathered on a wooden floor.

Plush keychains and pom-pom charms in several colours and characters. The start-up money covered goods like these and the cost of transport.

Beaded stretch bracelets and carded drop earrings arranged on a wooden floor.

Beaded stretch bracelets and carded drop earrings from the same batch: small, light goods that are easy to carry across the border.