An estimated 30,000 fisheries workers at sea off the Tanintharyi Region coast will not get the chance to vote today because they have been unable to get back to port, sources in the area say.

In 2010 those in the town’s fishing industry cast advance votes, but were unable to this year because of stricter enforcement of electoral laws.

The fishermen work on vessels based out of Myeik that spend months at sea at a time catching squid. Employers are unwilling to let them stop work for the election due to the cost, in both time and money.

"The cost to stop fishing even just for a day is very high,” said U Thet Seo, secretary of the Tanintharyi Region Fisheries Federation.

“And it also costs about K1 million per vessel in fees just to come back to port. The normally stay at sea for 45 to 90 days at a time.”

Even if employers wanted to let the fishermen come back, it would be hard to coordinate, said one Myeik resident familiar with the fisheries industry.

“The fishermen really want to vote but they don't know how to arrange to come back,” he said.“And no one else wants to cover the cost of bringing them back to Myeik.”

Most are from Dawei district rather than Myeik so would have to return to their villages to vote.

“Once they came back to port, it’s unlikely they would go back to their vessel. They would go home to their villages once they get off the boat.”

The Myeik Pyithu Hluttaw constituency is one of the most closely watched in Tanintharyi Region, as it pits U Soe Paing Htay from the National League for Democracy against U Htay Myint, the owner of Yuzana Company, who is standing for the Union Solidarity and Development Party. Candidates from the National Unity Party and National Development Party have also registered.

U Okkar Min, the NLD Amyotha Hluttaw candidate for constituency 8, which encompasses adjoining Kyun Su township, said some ship owners had promised to bring their workers back to Myeik for the day.

However, he said no arrangements had been made as of November 6 and he wasn’t confident it would happen.=

"It’s not really feasible with that type of business,” he said.

Among those set to miss out is Ko Yaung Sone, 21, who left Myeik port on a fishing vessel on November 6.

“I already know I won’t have the chance to vote. If I did, I would like to vote for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. I am interested to vote but we are going back to the sea today,” he told The Myanmar Times.

Another sea-bound voter, Ko Tin Win, 25, said he was so keen to vote for the current government again that he had asked his wife to do so on his behalf while he is at sea. A mechanic from Palone village in Pulaw township, he said he was even taken the time to confirm he was on the voter list.

"During the campaign, they [the Union Solidarity and Development Party] said they would build roads around the village monastery, so I want to vote for them. I asked my wife to cast a vote for me," he said, adding that everyone else in his village had agreed to vote USDP because of the party’s campaign promises.

For many, the lure of work is more important than voting. Ko Than Zaw, 23, originally from Rakhine State, said he simply could not afford to pass up the chance to go back to sea.

"Though I will lose my chance to vote, all of my family and relatives will vote for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. And I hope there will be a lot of change after the election, especially in terms of salary,” he said, adding that he earned K14,000 a month.