Thai-Western Mobilities and Migration: Intimacy within Cross-Border Connections

This book explores transnational social relationships and cross-border connections between 'ordinary people' in Thailand and 'the West' through the lens of mobilities and migrations. It emphasizes the need to consider the structural context and state restrictions that shape these relationships and experiences, highlighting gendered perspectives and the impact of globalisation processes on Thailand's economic development.

Format: Hardback
Length: 156 pages
Publication date: 30 November 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The chapters in this volume delve into the intricate tapestry of transnational social relationships and cross-border connections forged by 'ordinary people' as a result of the growing phenomenon of large-scale mobilities and migrations between Thailand and 'the West.' While traditional approaches to studying Thai and Western social relationships often revolve around personal narratives within the framework of cross-border marriage migration, this book argues for a broader perspective that recognizes these connections as far more than mere marriage migrations.

While personal life stories of marriage migrants offer valuable insights, they can inadvertently overshadow the structural context that shapes socially embedded cross-border connections and exchanges, as well as the state restrictions that initially make migration a possibility and subsequently mold a migrant's post-migration life trajectory and experiences relative to others in their origin and settlement societies. To unravel the gendered experiences of transnational living, the chapters on Thai women who marry and relocate with older Western men, Western men and women who choose to retire or pursue leisure in Thailand, and Thai rural families transformed by mobilities and migration take center stage. By examining the individual choices that shaped these lives and the surprising prevalence of such experiences in Thailand and abroad, it becomes essential to understand these choices within the broader context of the specific globalisation processes that have shaped Thailand through its transnational connections to other parts of the world over the past decades.

Globalisation, characterized by the pervasive influence of foreign capital, cultures, and people through mass tourism, plays a pivotal role in this explanatory backstory. It intertwines with the internal rural-urban cleavages that drive Thailand's economic development, shaping the country's social, cultural, and economic landscape. This book serves as a valuable contribution to the field, shedding light on the complex dynamics that underpin transnational social relationships and cross-border connections in a rapidly globalizing world.

Weight: 438g
Dimension: 179 x 252 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032037417