Social Adaptation of Indonesian Migrants in Thailand

The recent wave of Indonesian migrants in Thailand from the period of 2000 to 2010 was significantly increased from 549 people to 2,952 people (NSO, 2010). Annually, there are approximately 3,500 Indonesians granted the non-immigrant visa. Report of Thai Bureau of Immigration 2015-2017 showed the number within these three years is stable. Unlike the descendants in Thailand, recent wave of Indonesian migrants are mostly migrate voluntarily.

 

Although the number of Indonesian migrants in Thailand is increasing by years, their social adaptation is still unexplored yet; despite the potential integration of Indonesians with South-East Asian countries (ASEAN) societies. Meanwhile, much of researches on migrants in Thailand are mainly focusing on the labor migrants from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Therefore, this research would be the first study to investigate the numbers, geographical distribution and analyse the social adaptation of Indonesian migrants particularly as the Muslim minority in Thailand.

 

This research will collect data from sample of migrants with different background education, work experience, age, and gender. Mixed method of quantitative and qualitative analysis will be used. The data analysis will include descriptive, multivariate analysis for comparative measures, and qualitative analysis. Primary data will be obtained from questionnaire by conducting quantitative survey. To understand the answer further and to provide social experience, in-depth interview and direct observation will be done.

 

Moderator: Mr. Nadim Reza