Many Burmese working in Thailand?s rubber industry extend their stay indefinitely, as dreams of returning home with substantial savings prove elusive... "With rubber plantations covering nearly four percent of its total land area, Thailand is the world?s largest producer and exporter of rubber. But achieving an output of more than three million tons of rubber each year takes more than just vast expanses of land. It also requires a huge workforce, and in Thailand, this comes largely courtesy of neighboring Burma. Nobody knows exactly how many Burmese work in Thailand?s rubber plantations, but it is generally acknowledged that the industry couldn?t survive without them. Tapping the trees and harvesting the latex to make sheets of raw rubber is labor-intensive work, demanding full attention both night and day. It?s not a job that appeals to many Thais, but Burma?s crippled economy means that Thailand?s rubber plantations have no shortage of ready and willing workers..."