Quality of life of Myanmar Migrant Labours in Samutsakorn Thailand
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Published:
Dec 26, 2019
Keywords:
Quality of life Myanmar migrant labours Migrants labours aspire
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Abstract
The study on international migration has been traditionally focused on the implication of migration on economic growth while the quality of life of migrants is underrepresented. This study examines quality of life of Burmese migrants in one migrant community in Samut Sakorn Province of Thailand. The empirical evidence is drawn from a survey using structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews. This paper argues that most migrants are aspiring to and seeking material wealth, while health, food and education are placed in a lower priority. However, the gap between what migrants aspire to and what they can actually achieve is evident. Although some of these migrants may achieve a certain level of material wealth compared to their initial state prior to migration, quality of life most of them remains unattainable
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Research articles
References
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Oxford University Press.
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Commission for the study of international migration and cooperative economic development. Washington DC: US government printing office.
Atchawanitkul, K. (2004). Unpublished paper for the workshop on “illegal migrant workers and health
dimension with management programme of the Thai government”, 10 September 2004 at
Royal Rattanakosin hotel , Bangkok.
Breman, J. (1985). Of Peasants, Migrants and Paupers: Rural Labour Circulation and Capitalist
Production in West India. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Black, R., Sabates-Wheeler, R. Skeldon, R. Waddington, C. & Winters, A. (2003) Mapping Study of
Migration Issues, Sussex Centre for Migration Research, March, processed
Bryant J. (2005). Children of International Migrants In Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines: A Review
of Evidence and Policies, Innocenti Working Paper No. 2005-05. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre: Florence.
Connell J., et al. (1976). Migration from Rural Areas: The Evidence from Village Studies. Delhi:
Oxford University Press.
de Haan, H. (1999). “Livelihoods and Poverty : The Role of Migration- A Critical Review of the Migration
Literature.” Journal of Development Studies, 36(2), 1-47.
DFID. (1999). Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, from www. Livelihoods.org
Gamburd, M.R. (2000). The Kitchen Spoon’s Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka’s Migrant
Housemaids. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Gough, I. & McGregor J.A. (2007). Wellbeing in developing Countries from theory to research,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Huguet, J. W. & Punpuing, S. (2005). “Child migrants and children of migrants in Thailand”, Asia-Pacific
Population Journal, 20(3), 123-142.
Johansson, B., Karlsson, C. & Stough, R. (2001). Theories of Endogenous Regional Growth: Lesson for Regional Policies. Berlin: Springer-Verlogg.
King, R. (ed.). (1986). Return Migration and Regional Economic Problems, London: Croom Helm.
Kelley, A. C. (1991). The human development index: “Handle with care”. Population and
Development Review, 17: 315-24.
Kothari, U. (ed). (2003). Policy Arena: Migration, Staying Put and Livelihoods, Journal of International
Development, 15(5), 607-609
Lee, E. (1966). A Theory of Migration, Demography, 3(1), 47-57.
Lewis, J. (1986). International labour migration and uneven regional development in labour
exporting countries, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 77,27- 41.
Layard R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new science. London: Penguin.
McGee T.G. (1983). “Labour mobility in fragmented labour Markets. The role of circulatory migration in
rural-urban relations in Asia”, in: H.I. Safa, (ed), Towards a Political Economy of Urbanisation
in Third World Countries, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 47-66.
Martin P. (1991). The Unfinished Story: Turkish Labour Migration to Western Europe, International
Labour Office: Geneva.
McDowell C., de Haan A. (1997). Migration and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Critical Review of the Literature. Sussex: Institute of Development Studies (IDS).
Massey M., Arango J., Hugo G., Kouaouci A., Pellegrino A.,Taylor J.E. (1998). Worlds in Motion:
Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well-being : Synthesis.
Washington, DC: Island Press.
Mofa A., (2015). Effect of Akha tribe labor’s movement from Ban Huay Khee Lhek, Wawee Sub-District,
Maesuai District, Chiang Rai. Graduate School Journal., 8: 166-175 (in thai)
Nyberg-Sørensen, N., Hear, V.H. & Engberg-Pedersen, P. (2002). The Migration–Development Nexus:
Evidence and Policy Options. International Migration. 40 (5), 49–73.
OECD. (1992). Trends in International Migration, Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development: Paris.
Papademetriou D.G., Martin P.L. (eds). (1991). The Unsettled Relationship. Labour Migration and Economic Development. New York: Greenwood Press.
Punpuing S., Guest P. (1997). Project Outline: Assessment on Dependants of Migrant Workers in Thailand: Bangkok.
Ravenstein, G., (1885). The Laws of Migration, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, 48(2). 167-
235.
Rempel H., Lobdell R. (1978). The role of urban-to –rural remittances in rural development. Journal
of Development Studies, 14: 324-341.
Safa H.I. (ed). (1982). Towards a Political Economy of Urbanization in Third World Countries, Delhi:
Oxford University Press.
Shrestha N. (1988). A structural perspective on labour migration in underdeveloped countries. Progress
in Human Geography, 12: 179-207.
Stalker P. (2000). Workers without Frontiers: The Impact of Globalization on International
Migration. JLO, Lynne Reiner Publishers: USA.
Todaro, M.P. (1976). Internal Migration in Developing Countries. International Labour Office, Geneva.
Taylor J. (1999). “The new economics of labour migration and role of remittances in the migration
process”, International Migration, 37(1): 63-86.
Tacoli C. (1998). “Rural-Urban Linkages and Sustainable Rural Livelihood” Carney Diana (ed). (1998).
Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: What Contributions Can We Make?. DfID: London.
United Nations Development Program [UNDP]. (1990). Human Development Report 1990 (HDR), New
York: Oxford University Press.