Htun Shwe says there is no discrimination against Burmese workers from the local Chinese or the Chinese authorities.

Over in Thailand, Nilar fears the Thai gangs in the early morning, and Thai police the rest of the day. She holds an Thai work permit, but it is for working in fisheries only — and that is not her current job.

A year ago, Nilar recalls that she was selling curry in the street when two Thai motorcycle policemen arrested her.

Her fisheries work permit did her no good, so she borrowed money to pay a 2,000 baht (50 dollar) bribe to be released. "I really wanted to cry at the time," said Nilar. It took her a month to earn the money to repay her friends. "I did not feel well."

Since then, Nilar keeps a close watch out for police too when she sells curry on Ranong's streets. Though she has been in Thailand a long time, she has never made much money, usually just enough for her family's daily needs.

For Htun Shwe, life in China has been kinder. With a bicycle pump and a screwdriver, he began life here by repairing flat tyres on the streets of Ruili. Now he has saved more than 5,000 dollars. "Although it (China) is another country, it is good to stay here," he said. "If you harmoniously stay under their law, it is not bad here."

Both Nilar and Htun Shwe left their homeland in search for a better life. Estimates are that there are more than one million Burmese workers in Thailand, and more than 20,000 in Yunnan province, where Ruili is. More than 4,000 live around Ruili.

There are other differences in the Nilar's and Htun Shwe's lives. For Burmese, a one-year work permit in China costs 60 yuan (22.5 dollars) and a one-year work permit for Thailand costs 3,800 baht (95 dollars). In both cases the registration process takes a year.

But in China, a Burmese can also apply for a three-month temporary stay permit for 27 yuan (3.38 dollars).

But even then, most Burmese in Ruili do not have proper papers and police often arrest undocumented workers and deport them, or fine them, says local Burmese resident Hein Naing.

Nonetheless, Burmese migrants in China say they feel safe and secure.

But though they are often mistreated and discriminated against in Thailand, Burmese nationals continue to migrate there for work.

Hein Naing, who has lived for more than 10 years in Ruili and recently spent a month in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, say this is because travel remains easy between the two countries and there are plenty o f jobs available in Thailand.

Hein Naing adds that for years, the biggest obstacle to Burmese working in China was its huge population, which meant that the Chinese government had to find work for its own people first.