Managing International Labor Migration in ASEAN: A Case of Thailand by Srawooth Paitoonpong Yongyuth Chalamwong Thailand Development Research Institute ISBN 978‐974‐7533‐93‐4 Managing International Labor Migration in ASEAN: A Case of Thailand by Srawooth Paitoonpong Yongyuth Chalamwong Funded by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Printed in February 2012 (Research finished in September 2011) Printed by Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) 565 Ramkhamhaeng Soi 39, Wangthonglang, Bangkok 10310 Tel: 662 718 5460; Fax: 662 718 5461‐2 Website: http://www.tdri.or.th Email:
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[email protected] Dr. Srawooth is Senior Research Fellow, Human Resource and Social Development Program, Thailand Development Research Institute. Dr. Yongyuth is Research Director, Labor Development, Thailand Development Research Institute. ii Managing International Labor Migration in ASEAN: A Case of Thailand Abstract Managing International Labor Migration in ASEAN: A Case of Thailand The study on “Managing International Labor Migration in ASEAN: A Case of Thailand,” aimed to study policies and institution arrangement for managing international migration as part of regional cooperation initiatives and bilateral agreements. The study emphasized on the finding out why the current management of sending workers and protecting workers has not been effective. The data used for the analysis came from two main majority sources: 1) the quantitative data, including primary data on possible solutions, strategies, the secondary sources from Socio‐Economic Survey (SES) and information where necessary to explain the socio‐economic impact of migrant worker families; and 2) the qualitative study where collected from interview of key informants, focus group discussion with families of migrant workers, governments, brokers, and etc.