Influenced Factors of Transnational Migration Decision of Myanmar Laborers in Khon Kaen

Abstract

              Due to the political land economic factors, the cross-border migration of Myanmar migrant workers to Thailand has been the ongoing social phenomenon for more than three decades. Although Myanmar’s economy had shown a significant growth rate during these past ten years, the push factor for Myanmar workers to flee across the border to various regions in Thailand, such as Northeastern (Isan), remains its economic condition. This research was to explore the working conditions of Myanmar migrant workers in Khon Kaen. It also aimed to study the influential factors and motivations of the Myanmar migrant workers in Northeast Thailand. The study's methodology was a descriptive statistical analysis and quantitative research, whereas the data were collected through questionnaires from 362 Myanmar migrant workers who lived in Isan.

               The result from an inference statistic and logistic regression analysis reveals that (1) most of Myanmar migrant workers in the sampling group have family members or relatives who had worked in Thailand. They mostly work in an industrial factory under legal working registration. They earn more than 8,000 Baht while having less than 2,000 Baht expenses per month, leaving a considerable amount to save and send foreign remittent back to their home country. Most of the workers have up to 1 to 3 years of working experience. At the end of the employment contract, Myanmar workers were planning to return to their homeland and continue working in Thailand in the same proportion. And (2), the ages of 20 – 30 years old were influenced factor for return to Myanmar with statistical significance at 0.05, while males aged between 20 – 30 years old, education of primary school and lower were influenced factors for still working in Thailand with statistical significance at 0.05.