ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF MIGRATION DECISIONS AMONG MYANMAR MIGRANT WORKERS IN THAILAND
Keywords:
Migrant Workers, Myanmar Workers, Logistic Regression, Migration Decision, Economic FactorsAbstract
This study aimed to examine the economic factors affecting the migration decisions of Myanmar nationals seeking employment in Thailand, considering wages, cost of living, employment opportunities, labor welfare, as well as push factors from the country of origin and pull factors from Thailand. A quantitative research design was employed. Data were collected from 408 Myanmar nationals, including: 1) migrant workers currently employed in Thailand, 2) individuals preparing to enter the Thai labor market, and 3) individuals residing in Myanmar who were considering migration to Thailand for employment. The data were analyzed using a logit model and marginal effects analysis.
The results showed that the overall model was statistically significant at the 0.05 level, with an LR chi-square value of 97.05, and correctly classified migration decisions in 76.72% of cases. At the 0.10 significance level, the factors affecting migration decisions included education level, household dependency, preferred job type, saving ability, wages sufficient for living costs, access to public health services, job suitability, fairness of supervision, and economic conditions and exchange rates in Myanmar. The marginal effects indicated that household dependency was positively associated with the probability of migration. In particular, respondents with more than four dependents had approximately a 69.63 percentage-point higher probability of migrating than those without dependents. In contrast, higher levels of education, limited saving ability, job suitability, and greater concern about economic conditions and exchange rates in Myanmar were negatively associated with the probability of migration. The findings provide useful information for designing migrant labor management policies that are consistent with labor market demand and support long-term labor policy planning.
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