Cut Loose & Silenced: How Cal-Comp Betrayed 1,400 Migrant Workers from Burma — and the Global Brands That Profit
The Human Cost of Exploitation
In Phetchaburi Province, Thailand, Cal-Comp Electronics—a key supplier in the global electronics industry—abruptly terminated more than 1,400 Burma migrant workers without warning. Workers were confined inside the factory, threatened with arrest, and coerced into signing termination papers. Compensation was a meager 10,000 baht (USD 308), far below what Thai labor law prescribes.
The Factory & Its Global Footprint
Cal-Comp is not a small local factory. It manufactures printers, external hard drives, and electronic components for global corporations. Past investigations revealed it had to reimburse more than 10,000 Burmese migrant workers for illegal recruitment fees, one of the largest such settlements in global supply chain history.
Brands sourcing from Cal-Comp include HP Inc., Konica Minolta, and Hitachi. Their reputations are now on the line, as this latest scandal exposes systemic worker abuse under their supply chain contracts.
The Coordinated Betrayal
No legal notice was given.
Police were on site, enforcing compliance.
Burma (Myanmar) Embassy representatives sided with the employer, abandoning their citizens.
Workers under four months of service were targeted, exploiting a legal loophole to deny severance pay.
This was not just a layoff. It was a calculated expulsion under duress, designed to cut costs at the expense of human rights.
Global Responsibility
This is not simply a Thai labor issue. It is a global supply chain crime. The brands profiting from Cal-Comp’s goods—printers in offices, hard drives in computers—are complicit if they do not act.
Advocacy Demands
Corporate accountability: HP, Hitachi, and Konica Minolta must immediately investigate and suspend Cal-Comp orders until workers are compensated.
Worker reinstatement and fair compensation: All dismissed workers must receive severance pay as guaranteed under Thai law.
Independent monitoring: Worker-driven, multilingual complaint mechanisms must be installed in Cal-Comp and its supplier networks.
Legal action: Thai authorities must investigate coercion and unlawful termination and protect workers from retaliation or deportation.
International trade enforcement: Imports of Cal-Comp products must be scrutinized under global forced labor laws.
Conclusion
This is modern slavery in real time. Over 1,400 Burma workers—many ethnic minority villagers—were cast aside, silenced, and abandoned by those sworn to protect them. Unless brands in the global supply chain act, they too are complicit.
References
Brees, Inge. “The Impact of Burmese Refugees on Thailand.” The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, 2012.
Electronics Watch. Cal-Comp: A Lesson in the Importance of Worker-Driven Monitoring to End Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains. Feb. 2020.
Human Rights Watch. Unwanted and Unprotected: Burmese Refugees in Thailand. Human Rights Watch, 1998.
Irrawaddy. “Over 1,400 Myanmar Workers Fired Without Notice in Thailand, Labor Activists Say.” The Irrawaddy, 1 Oct. 2025.
Myanmar Now. “Cal-Comp to Compensate 1,450 Myanmar Workers after Sudden Mass Layoffs in Thailand.” Myanmar Now, 2 Oct. 2025.
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. “Thailand: Cal-Comp Electronics Awards Compensation for Illegal Recruitment Fees to 10,000 Burmese Migrant Workers.” Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, 2019.
