Internal Migration in Thailand

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

With a population of 66 million, Thailand is a significant migration hub for incoming, outgoing and transiting migrants in Southeast Asia. Thailand is well served with data on internal migration, with data collected at the decennial Census of Population and Housing and the annual National Migration Survey. Data from the 1990, 2000, 2010 Censuses are used in this chapter and include information on lifetime and last move. Census data show that Thais are less mobile than the Asian mean with 11.2% changing address in the five years to 2000. Like other Southeast Asian nations, they display early migration profiles, with peaks at age 20 for males and 21 for females, mainly driven by employment reasons. A significant proportion of men also migrate to live in institutional housing for military service and monastic living. Moderate levels of migration effectiveness coupled with relatively low migration intensities mean that just 1.6% of Thais were redistributed between provinces in the five years to 2010. With a little more than half of its population residing in cities, Thailand is quickly transitioning from a rural to an urban society. Rural-to-urban flows remain significant, with Bangkok as an important destination. However, economic development, particularly in the Eastern Economic Corridor, is creating new migrant destinations. The suburbanisation of migration flows is increasingly observed in the Bangkok metropolitan region. These patterns reflect government policy aimed at lessening flows into Bangkok’s metropolitan core.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternal Migration in the Countries of Asia
Subtitle of host publicationA Cross-national Comparison
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Pages185-206
Number of pages22
ISBN (Electronic)9783030440107
ISBN (Print)9783030440091
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2020

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