The giant waves wiped out thousands and forced families left behind to consider another fate.

Two years on, Ma Hla Tin is still searching for her younger sister's body.

Ma Hla Tin's sister, 23yearold Ma Ye Ye Hla had arrived in Baan Nam Khem just one day before the tsunami. She was working in a snooker club near the village market when the tsunami came and carried her away.

Ma Hla Tin is awaiting the result of a DNA test to find out if it matches with a corpse kept at the morgue with unidentified bodies of tsunami victims.

Like thousands of Burmese workers who lost their registration cards along with their jobs in the tsunami, Ma Hla Tin has now become an "undocumented" migrant worker in Thailand.

"I lost my registration card during the tsunami. I don't even have a photocopy of my card. Even if I get a chance to renew my card, I do not have enough money at the moment to pay the fee for it," she said.

Ma Hla Tin's story - and that of other Burmese migrant workers - were revealed to the public at a recent seminar on "The fate of Burmese migrant workers two years after the tsunami", held at Chulalongkorn University.

No one knows exactly how many people died when the huge waves swept through, but only 193 bodies were identified as Burmese. And only 12 families of Burmese victims have received compensation - Bt20,000 each - from the Labour and Social Welfare Ministry for the loss of their loved ones.

"There were another 40 families waiting for corpses because they needed more documents to prove that the bodies were their relatives," said Nassir Achwarin, coordinator of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB), which helped the Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) centre set up a database for DNA tests.

There are still 399 unidentified bodies at Bang Maruan morgue in PhangNga's Takua Pa district, said Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, superintendent of the TTVI's Thai Disaster Victim Identification Unit.

The Interior Ministry said there were 73,284 Burmese workers registered to work in Ranong, Phangnga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Satun - before the tsunami hit.

The TACDB also released its report, titled "Helpless Before and After the Waves: The Plight of Burmese Migrant Workers in the Andaman Tsunami" at the seminar.

The report exposes stories of the forgotten victims, such as Ma Su Su Moe who returned to work at Koh Karan in Phangnga province and is still searching for her husband's body.

Ma Su Su Moe, 25, worked at a seafood restaurant, and her husband worked at a construction site when the waves took him away. After losing her husband and registration card, Ma Su Su Moe returned to Burma but decided later to risk returning to Thailand as an undocumented migrant worker.

"Our son is now six years old and he lives with my mother in Burma. Before my husband died, we were able to send money back home. But now I don't have enough savings to send anything back," the young widow said.

Thousands of Burmese migrant workers have returned to areas where they worked before that fateful day, and their plight continues.

"But even with all the problems we have here in Thailand, it's still better living in Burma," said Ma Hla Tin, who was deported back to Burma along with other 300 migrant workers after the tsunami.

She is now earning a living in Baan Nam Khem - the small fishing that was swampy by the tsunami. She gets Bt5 for each artificial flower she makes.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Ma Poe Poe decided not to return to Burma even though she lost her mother and elder sister in the tsunami.

"I think that all Burmese workers really want to go back but the problem is there are no jobs in Burma. One person working in Thailand makes enough money to feed four of five people in Burma," she said.

With help from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Ma Poe Poe found and cremated her sister's body. She is still waits with hope that she will find her mother.

Note: The report "Helpless Before and After the Wave: The Plight of Burmese Migrant Workers in the Andaman Tsunami" is available at TACDB. Call 022164463 or email <tacdb@ksc.th.com> for a copy.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

The Nation