Migrants’ Hopes for Longer Stay in Thailand: Gender and Social Space

Abstract

Thailand has been Southeast Asia’s primary migration hub for the past three decades. Although government policies assume that migrants stay temporarily and only for the time they have official permission, Thai policies, and regulations do not seem to stop migrants from staying longer. This study investigates factors related to migrants’ hopes to stay in Thailand longer than officially permitted by focusing on gender and social space. This study examines the hope for a more extended stay in Thailand of migrants from the three neighboring countries, Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Cambodia, and the relationship between gender, social space of migrants, and expected years of stay. The results show that the hopes of migrants regarding their length of stay varied according to several factors, including gender, age, nationality, type of work, duration of stay in Thailand, and social space.  Overall, the average length of stay for migrants was 5.4 years. Regarding social space, it was found that women migrants have more outstanding average social space scores than men.