Reintegration of Thai female returnees with children from Japan into Thai society

Abstract

International labor migration has received particular attention in destination countries due to a number of social problems that have arisen when migrants have integrated into the destination society. Social problems can also occur when migrants return from the destination country to their country of origin. Thai women have particularly faced integration problems when returning from Japan, their lack of skills and absence of any socioeconomic support prevent them from seeking other employment options and leave them only migration or entertainment work as working alternatives. The reintegration process of women with children may differ from other female migrants who have returned to their country of origin as other migrants may not have the added burden of an extra child to support. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the process of reintegration by examining cases of Thai female migrant women in Chang Rai province. The research objectives are: 1) To examine living conditions and their integration for Thai female migrants in Japan. 2) To understand the conditions of the process of return for Thai female returnees with children. 3) To analyze how the socio-economic factors can help and hinder the reintegration of Thai female returnees with children into Thai society. The research was a qualitative case-study of Chiang Rai province. The study relied on a combination of primary and secondary source, mainly primary source. The primary source is life story of Thai female returnees from Japan. The study found that the living condition of Thai female migrants in Japan was strongly influenced by the working environment in the snack bars and people that interacted with the women. Women were particularly vulnerable to exploitation because they had entered Japan with their illegal status. On the other hand, some women were integrated into Japanese society economically and socially through their marriage to Japanese men and their ability to speak Japanese language. In terms of the return process, most cases of returnees decided to come back to Thailand because of their pregnancy with Japanese partner and their illegal status made them illegible to benefit from the Japanese health care system. None of the women were able to gain secure employment after their return from Japan to Thailand, because of the types of entertainment work that the women were subjected to whilst in Japan. Although the cases differ, some of the women with children were able to use the remittance from their Japanese husband or partner to empower themselves and this empowerment helps reintegrate the women into their local community better than those who had neither remittance nor partner.