Recent Thai Skilled Migration in Victoria
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RECENT THAI SKILLED MIGRATION IN VICTORIA Submitted by Sansanee Chanarnupap, B.S., M.A. A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology and Anthropology School of Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences La Trobe University Bundoora, Victoria 3086 Australia December, 2010 CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Summary ii Statement of Authorship iii Chapter One Introduction 1 Background of the study 1 Theoretical orientation 2 Historical background of the Australian-Thai community 6 Thai international students in Australia 13 Research on international students and migration 18 Methodology 20 Research techniques 22 Strategies for enabling reflexivity 25 Methodological limitations 27 Location of study 28 Demographic background of the Thailand-Born community in Victoria 29 Terminology and clarification 33 The chapter outline 34 Chapter Two Becoming an overseas student 36 Why study overseas? 37 The possibility of Australian permanent residency 37 Limited access to higher education 38 2 Thai value of being more western and knowing English 40 International education as an instrumental value 48 Why choose Australia? 52 Financial considerations 53 Country character and educational considerations 54 Chapter Three Student life in Australia 57 Experiencing culture shock 61 Academically challenging experiences 63 Personally challenging experiences 70 Negotiating culture shock 74 The Thai restaurant: a gateway to a little Thai society 77 Chapter Four From student to migrant Why migrate to Australia after graduation? 84 The value of being more independent 85 International migration in the Thai imaginary 89 Legal considerations of migrating to Australia 96 The migration decision making process The individual and the family 97 Making a choice and negotiating with the family 98 Chapter Five The Thai community and network building 100 Residential decentralisation 101 Thai community as a dynamic series of networks 108 Community structure and order 116 3 Community membership 117 Community boundaries 122 Community cohesion 123 Chapter Six Living Thai-ness 127 An Australian way of multiculturalism 128 Thai migrant approach to Australian multiculturalism 136 Presentation of Thai-ness in Australia 140 Chapter Seven Ties to Thailand 155 Modes of transnational contacts 156 Economic engagements 156 Political engagements 157 Religious engagements 159 Social engagements 160 Transnational transformation 165 Where is home? 165 Chapter Eight Conclusion 174 Appendices Appendix 1: Map of Thailand 183 Appendix 2: Introduction of New Points Test 184 Appendix 3: Table of key participants’ social characteristics 186 Bibliography 187 4 TABLES Table 1.1 Distribution within Australia of Thailand-born people, 2001 and 2006 11 Table 1.2 Australia’s top five exports of goods and services 14 Table 1.3 Time series of Thai student enrolments in Australia 15 Table 1.4 Student visas granted by citizenship for the top 10 countries 2007–08 16 Table 1.5 Key participants’ characteristic 23 Table 1.6 Persons born in Thailand in Victoria and Australia: 2006, 2001 and 1996 Census 31 Table 1.7 Top 5 Languages spoken at home by Thailand-born: 2006, 2001 Census 31 Table 1.8 Age and gender of distribution of Thai-born: 2006, 2001 Census 32 Table 1.9 Proficiency in English of Thai-born: 2006, 2001 Census 32 Table 1.10 Top 5 Religions of Thai-born: 2006, 2001 Census 33 Table 6.1 Australia’s diverse population 30 June 2008 131 5 FIGURES Figure 1.1 Objects through time: Goal record of Samuel Dykes C.1885 7 Figure 1.2 A royal state visit from Thailand to Australia in 1962 9 Figure 2.1 Thai dress in the reign of King Rama I-III 43 Figure 2.2 Thai dress in the reign of King Rama V 43 Figure 2.3 A Thai government poster from the Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram era 45 Figure 3.1 The Thai ‘Wai’ 80 Figure 4.1 Officially deployed overseas Thai workers, 1999-2007 90 Figure 4.2 Remittances of overseas Thai workers, 1999-2007 90 Figure 5.1 Melbourne’s Annual Thai Culture and Food Festival 107 Figure 5.2 Examples of participants’ interpersonal ties 108 Figure 5.3 Examples of connection webs of four Thai skilled migrants 109 Figure 5.4 Examples of non-Thais in Thai community 113 Figure 5.5 An example of multiple network membership 114 Figure 5.6 TIWA Official Launch 118 Figure 5.7 The World Tipitaka Presentation Ceremony 119 Figure 6.1 Thai community walking people parade 144 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After years of hard work the thesis has come to full fruition with the support of many people. First, I wish to thank my supervisor Raymond Madden for his excellent supervision, great scholarly support and encouragement. My co-supervisor Alberto Gomes, the third panel member Helen Lee, and my peer mentor Edgar Burns provided constructive comments for which I am grateful. Thanks also go to staff members and colleagues at the School of Social Sciences for their help and support; to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences for the research funding I received; and to the staff at University Security Bus Services who always provide a reliable service. I am also grateful for kindness of Thaksin University (Thailand) for allowing me to take overseas study leave and granting me a scholarship for PhD study including English language training course. I especially want to thank all elements of the Thai community in Victoria particularly Thai skilled migrants who generously shared their valuable time and life experiences with me. Million thanks to brothers and sisters in Hope Christian Church Melbourne (Darebin Centre) who have made my stay in Australia unforgettably meaningful. Thanks ‘God’ who brought me so far and has never left me, nor forsaken me. God’s Grace is sufficient for me, for God’s power is made perfect in weakness. I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ~ 7i SUMMARY This thesis is an anthropological and sociological study of migration experience focusing on the transition period during which Thai overseas students become skilled migrants, as well as the way that Thai skilled migrants live in Australia. Twenty-five Thai skilled migrants in Victoria who initially came to Australia for further education and then applied for Australian permanent residence after graduating generated the core data for the study. The research highlights how a demand for overseas education by these former Thai students has traditionally been driven by the value Thai place on being more Western and knowing English as well as the expectation that study in Australia will temporarily liberate them from social stresses and raise their economic and social status in Thai social hierarchy. However, they have migrated to Australia after the completion of their overseas study rather than returning to Thailand. Their migration decision- making 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-making. The research findings show that the Australian-Thai community can be seen as a dynamic meta-network which has many sub-networks interconnecting within it; ranging from interpersonal ties to social organisational ties, from virtual encounters to real-life interactions. Participants had Thai social networks that could be used to connect them with other Thais for various reasons at various times. They have used these networks since the time of their arrival to construct their own personal world and livelihood. Although networks might be concentrated on other Thais, participants also had external contacts that could connect them to broader Australian society. The Thai community is neither a closed nor exclusive community. The awareness of social pluralism which both Australia and Thailand have taken into account creates a space for Thai culture within Australian society. Integration into Australian-Thai community networks as well as ties to the homeland was central to the migration, settlement, and adjustment that provided opportunities for meaningful social engagement and identity development. These Thai transmigrants live dual lives; speaking two languages, having homes in two countries, and continuing to have regular contact across international borders and between different cultures and social systems. 8ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. All research procedures reported in this thesis were approved by the University Human Ethics Committee, Approval Number UHEC 07-16. Signature: Date: 7/12/2010 iii9 Chapter One Introduction Background of the study In February 2007, I came to Australia for further education. I expected that overseas education in the Western world would be an eye-opening experience, and one I could utilise to the advantage of my academic career in back in Thailand. During my stay in this foreign country, from the first day to the present, there has been a common question I have been asked consistently by people in Australia (both Thais and non-Thais, and both locals and migrants). In schools, restaurants, and worship places a question along the lines of, “Would you like to stay here after graduation?” frequently appears in my conversations. This is especially so among international students. I entered to Australia without giving any thought to this question as permanent emigration from Thailand has never been in my mind.