Due to the mass forced relocation of approximately 300,000 Shan ethnic people from over 1,400 villages in central Shan State by Burma’s military regime and its massacres and systematic rape used to subjugate and terrorize the Shan communities, hundreds of thousands of Shan people have been fleeing into Thailand. Many stayed in the Shan State Army controlled territory close to the Thai- Burma border. Unlike the Karen and Karenni refugees, the Thai government did not recognize the Shan people as refugees nor allow them to set up refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Therefore, members of the Shan community sought to establish much-needed services where possible. In order for their own survival as well as to support their family members, from very young to very old, the Shan refugees were forced to enter Thailand's unskilled labor market as migrant workers doing 3 D jobs – Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous. Many lack legal status in Thailand and are therefore extremely vulnerable to labor exploitation and abuse committed by unscrupulous people in Thailand.

Such horror, turmoil, painful experiences and exploitative situation have been the drive to form the Shan Women’s Action Network, also known as SWAN.