Thai Migrant Workers Research Articles

COVID-19 and returnee migrant workers’ struggles in Southern Thailand

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on migrant workers all over the world, including in Malaysia. This study focuses on the undocumented Thai migrant workers in Malaysia. Due to their illegal status, as returnee migrants in Thailand, they could not seek assistance from the government. This study aims to explore the struggle of illegal Thai migrant workers after returning to their country of origin and responses from government and other organizations. The methodology used for this research is a multi-site case study, with the case study sites being southern border provinces: Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkla, and capital city Bangkok. Data were collected through intensive fieldwork and various secondary documents. This study revealed that Thailand has not developed any concrete policy to assist the returnee workers in the pandemic period. There is a lack of coordination among government agencies, and local support including from civil society organizations initiatives has been inadequate.

Exploring low-income migrant workers' health information-seeking behavior during COVID-19 in Taiwan: A qualitative study.

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic is reported to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities of marginalized groups, and the lack of self-care can lead to the spread of the virus across society. Therefore, effective responses to the challenges imposed by the health crisis should consider the health information needs of migrant workers.ObjectiveWe aimed to explore how migrant low-income workers seek health information and how their health-related information needs were met during a health crisis. We also investigated migrant workers’ preferred information sources and types of content with the theoretical concept of health literacy to understand the development of health competencies among migrant workers.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with Thai low-income migrant workers. A total of 13 Thai migrant workers participated in the study, among whom five were undocumented. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed with the thematic analysis approach.ResultsOur findings indicated that migrant workers’ health literacy and health information behavior could be improved through technology when facing a health crisis. We found that participants sought health information proactively to reduce their perceived risks. However, there is still space for design to support the ability to process jargon information and apply local policy, such as providing easy-to-understand, accurate, and timely information. The findings of this study provide some insights for the authority and technological design to respond to migrant workers’ health information needs.ConclusionsThis study acknowledges and understands the needs of vulnerable migrant workers in society. The findings of this study provide insights for the authority and technological design to respond to migrant workers’ health information needs. We also outline the areas worth further investigation, such as the communication between information seekers and providers, and the navigation of the healthcare system for migrants in the host country.

Framing the Mother Tac: The Racialised, Sexualised and Gendered Politics of Modern Slavery in Australia

Centred on the slavery trial “Crown vs. Rungnapha Kanbut” heard in Sydney, New South Wales, between 10 April and 15 May 2019, this article seeks to frame the figure of the “Mother Tac” or the “mother of contract”, also called “mama tac” or “mae tac”—a term used amongst Thai migrants to describe a woman who hosts, collects debts from, and organises work for Thai migrant sex workers in their destination country. It proposes that this largely unexplored figure has come to assume a disproportionate role in the “modern slavery” approach to human trafficking, with its emphasis on absolute victims and individual offenders. The harms suffered by Kanbut’s victims are put into context by referring to existing literature on women accused of trafficking; interviews with Thai migrant sex workers, including Kanbut’s primary victim, and with members from the Australian Federal Police Human Trafficking Unit; and ethnographic field notes. The article unveils how constructions of both victim and offender, as well as definitions of slavery, are racialised, gendered, and sexualised and rely on the victims’ subjective accounts of bounded exploitation. By documenting these and other limitations involved in a criminal justice approach, the authors reveal its shortfalls. For instance, while harsh sentences are meant as a deterrence to others, the complex and structural roots of migrant labour exploitation remain unaffected. This research finds that improved legal migration pathways, the decriminalisation of the sex industry, and improved access to information and support for migrant sex workers are key to reducing heavier forms of labour exploitation, including human trafficking, in the Australian sex industry.

Problems, obstacles, challenges, and government policy guidelines for Thai migrant workers in Singapore and Malaysia

The objectives of this study were: 1) to study the problems and obstacles faced by Thai workers in Singapore and Malaysia, 2) to study the opportunities for Thai workers in Singapore and Malaysia, and 3) to propose guidelines for government support for Thai workers there. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews, a field survey; observation, a literature review, a focus group study; and the Delphi technique using both purposive and accidental sampling, and the researcher performed content analysis and descriptive analyses on the data collected. The study found that the major problems Thai workers face are how to communicate with their employers because most workers lack foreign language skills, which places them at a disadvantage with their employers. In addition, limits on the availability of work permits and restrictions on available job positions make it difficult for Thai workers to find good jobs in Singapore and Malaysia. Therefore, the Thai government should play a key role in negotiating with the Singaporean and Malaysian governments to solve these problems, and the Thai government should train workers who return from overseas to work in small- and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the guidelines of government policy for the management and administration of Thai workers in Singapore and Malaysia should include: 1) improving the education system based on the labor market, 2) creating policies for informal workers, 3) creating policies to support Thai workers employed abroad, 4) drafting a labor agreement between neighboring countries, 5) protecting Thai workers abroad, and 6) creating policies supporting small and medium enterprises. Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labor should to set up a new office on Borneo Island because this office could support and take care of Thai workers in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The "Bare Life" of Thai Transnational Migrant Workers in Taiwan

In 2009, in an area of Taiwan distinguished by family-operated factories, a young Thai fell victim to sudden unexplained death syndrome. His Indonesian female lover may have been an indirect cause of his death, as her previous lover may have paid for the use of black magic against him. The victim's older brother originally wanted to seek revenge, but his ageing mother dissuaded him. The brother was, in turn, involved with an Indonesian woman in Taiwan, whose child by him he continued to support after her return home. This loyalty led his Taiwanese lover to stab him in his sleep. While he survived, these episodes serve to illustrate the lives and losses of Thai and other transnational migrant workers.

The role of labour broker networks in setting the price of working abroad for thai migrant workers

The objective of this research was to study the role of labour broker networks in fixing the price for Thai migrants to work abroad. In order to understand the role of these networks, it was necessary to focus on two specific research questions. The first question was how these labour broker networks are formed; and the second question was why, or for what purposes, are these networks being created. Data was collected through in-depth interviews as well as participatory and non-participatory observations with 37 key informants who were labour brokers belonging to legal labour agencies and labour sub-brokers. Key informants were selected by a snowball technique from Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, and Nongkhai. Data analysis was done using the ATLAS.ti program. The study found that the labour broker networks in the north-east of Thailand are loosely established through ties formed via cultural or community activities without any formal organization. In the main, these networks are set up on the basis of personal relationships among members. The rationale behind the establishment of these networks is to maintain personal relationships and to exchange work-related information. The results of the study indicated that the social networks of labour brokers are informal, and that these networks are linked to other networks that exist among labour brokers and sub-brokers forming larger local and regional networks. The costs incurred by Thai migrant workers having recall to the services of labour broker networks forms part of the overall cost of working abroad. Moreover, it was found that in some cases labour sub-brokers had provided loans to Thai labourers to cover the costs of travelling abroad.

Beingkhon phias a Form of Resistance among Thai Migrant Workers in Korea

SOJOURN is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of social and cultural issues in Southeast Asia. It publishes empirical and theoretical research articles with a view to promoting and disseminating scholarship in and on the region. Areas of special concern include ethnicity, religion, tourism, urbanization, migration, popular culture, social and cultural change, and development. Fields most often represented in the journal are anthropology, sociology, and history.

Thai Migrant Workers Government Support for the Sustainable Living of Thai Migrant Workers Before and After Working in Singapore

Thai Migrant Workers Government Support for the Sustainable Living of Thai Migrant Workers Before and After Working in Singapore

Thai Migrant Workers in Agriculture Farms in New Zealand: A Short Case Study

This paper’s aim is to study the problems Thai migrant workers face in agricultural farming in New Zealand and to provide guidelines for solving these problems. This study used in-depth interviews conducted between the years 2007 and 2012, with accidental sampling, and the data were analyzed using a content analysis. The study found that the main motivation of Thai workers is to send remittance back home to pay off family debt. Many Thai workers came to work in New Zealand because their relatives motivated them, and the problems they face while there include a limitation of working visas, English language barriers, and an inability to find work. In order to solve these problems the Thai government should train Thai workers both before and after working aboard.

Gender performances as spatial acts: (fe)male Thai migrant sex workers in Denmark

The objective of this article is to investigate how Thai migrant sex workers in Denmark understand normative heterosexuality and femininity/masculinity as they are reproduced in the Danish sex industry. To do so I analyse the ways that gender plays a part in sex work and the ways in which sex work plays a significant role in how Thai migrant sex workers understand their gendered subject positions in the spaces away from their sex work. Whether Thai migrant sex workers become intelligible gendered subjects depends on different spaces. Based on two case stories I focus on the space of domesticity, the space of sexual consumption and the quasi-public space of leisure.

Psychological distress among Thai migrant workers in Israel

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the associations between migration stressors and psychological distress among Thai migrant agricultural workers in Israel, and to examine the direct and indirect contribution of socio-cultural variables to this relationship. Two hundred and twenty-one Thai male workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire that included demographic variables and occupational exposures to organophosphate pesticides (as control variables), migration stressors, intervening variables (traditional health beliefs, social support, drinking behavior, and utilization of medical services), and a psychological distress scale. In multivariate analysis, migration stressors, the migrants’ traditional health beliefs, quality of current social relationships, drinking behavior, as well as age and occupational exposure were significantly associated with psychological distress. Workers who reported higher migration stressors (perceived the migration to be difficult, and often felt homesick), those with higher levels of traditional health beliefs, those whose social relationships with other Thai co-workers were poor, those who consumed either no alcohol or large amounts of alcohol, and those who reported “problem drinking” had significantly higher levels of psychological distress. A moderating effect of the quality of social relationships with co-workers on the association between homesickness and psychological distress was found. Additionally, migrants aged 28–34 and those who were experiencing eye irritation from chemicals at work had significantly increased levels of distress. The findings demonstrate the focal role of specific migration stressors and the current socio-cultural context on psychological distress of migrant workers.