From ‘Overseas Student’ to ‘Immigrant’: Thai Skilled Migration to Australia

Abstract

     This paper is based on a qualitative study of Thai skilled migration to Australia focusing on the transition period during which Thai overseas students become skilled immigrants, as well as the way that they adjust themselves to Australian society. The research employed two major qualitative techniques in the fieldwork: participant observation and in-depth interviewing from 2007 to 2009. Twenty-five Thai skilled immigrants in Melbourne who initially came to Australia for further education and then applied for Australian permanent residency after graduation generated the core data for the study. The paper highlights how a demand for overseas education has traditionally been driven by the value Thais place on being more Western and developing fluency in the English language as well as the expectation that study in Australia will temporarily liberate them from social stresses and raise their economic and social status in the Thai social hierarchy. However, they have migrated to Australia after the completion of their overseas study rather than returning to Thailand. Their migration decision can be seen as a social product, not as the sole result of individual decisions but a matter which involved other family members. Non-economic factors relating to the independence of life were of considerable importance in the migration decision. In negotiating culture shock, the students typically integrated into the Australian-Thai community and made use of these connections to make links to Australia’s broader multicultural society. The benefit for Thai students of grouping with fellow Thais was that this initial network gave them the confidence and comfort to develop an understanding of Australia as a stimulating and desirable place to live. This confidence also created a space for the students to make a decision about permanent migration.