Marriage Migration and the Uses of Communication Technology among “New-generation” Thai Migrants in Germany
Keywords:
marriage migration, communication technology, Thai migrants, GermanyAbstract
This article draws from the author’s research on marriage migrants from Thailand to the Federal Republic of Germany, focusing on those arriving under the 2005 Residence Act. The research integrates primary statistical data from the Federal Statistical Office, documentary research, quantitative data from online questionnaires, and qualitative data from the author’s interviews with these “new-generation” Thai migrants. The article illustrates a different context of migration from those discussed in earlier research, which mainly focus on migration processes and remittances. On the basis of the Residence Act’s regulations on marriage migration and the ubiquity of new media technologies, the experiences of “new-generation” Thai migrants are constituted of different socio-economic backgrounds and accordingly different socialization patterns from their predecessors. In particular, they use communication technologies as alternative platforms to connect with their networks both in their homeland and among the Thai communities in Germany; both before and after their migration.
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