Mothers of Arakanese migrant workers convicted of Thailand murders need medical treatment

12 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
12 February, 2023, Sittwe

The mothers of Win Zaw Tun and Zaw Lin, two Arakan State natives convicted of murdering a pair of British backpackers in Thailand in 2014, are reportedly in need of medical treatment.

Ko Zaw Lin’s mother, Daw Phyu Chay Nu, has been suffering from a tumour in her neck for the past 10 years. Currently, her condition has worsened to the point where it is difficult to swallow food, but she cannot afford treatment.

“My medical expenses have cost about K3 million. I had to sell my cattle and farmland for medical treatment. I received treatment from traditional healers in Yangon, Pyapon and Kyaukphyu, but the disease did not go away. Now I have no money for medical treatment,” she told DMG.

Her neck tumour requires advanced treatment in the hospital, but because she has been unable to afford it, she sought treatment from traditional healers, Daw Phyu Chay Nu explained.

Ko Win Zaw Tun’s mother, meanwhile, is suffering from glaucoma, but she similarly has not been able to undergo surgery due to financial difficulties.

“I don’t have the money to undergo surgery. After surgery, if I have to rest for three months without working, I will face livelihood hardships,” Daw May Thein, the mother of Ko Win Zaw Tun, told DMG.

The two mothers have wanted to go to Thailand to visit their sons in prison, but they said there were difficulties such as poor health and no one to accompany them.

Two British backpackers were found killed on Koh Tao Island in Thailand in 2014, and Arakanese migrant workers Win Zaw Tun and Zaw Lin were charged with their murders and sentenced to death by the Koh Samui Court in 2015.

Their lawyers appealed against the death sentence, but the appeal was rejected. The death sentences imposed on Win Zaw Tun and Zaw Lin were commuted to life imprisonment on December 5, 2020.