After China‟s major economic reform in 1978, there was a large number of Chinese people migrated abroad. Thailand is one of their most popular destination in Southeast Asia alongside Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. At the present, the number of “New” Chinese migrants is still increasing, and expected to be more in the future. This fact draws the attention of this paper to discuss the differences of Chinese migration pattern to Thailand between the previous generation and the present one. This differentiation indicates that the present migration brings about changes to the representation of Chinese settlement in Thailand in both social cultural and economic meaning.
CONTEMPORARY PATTERNS OF CHINESE MIGRANTS TO THAILAND Watcharapon Sirisuwilai watsir@kku.ac.th Eastern Language Department (Chinese), Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Khon Kaen University Abstract After China‟s major economic reform in 1978, there was a large number of Chinese people migrated abroad Thailand is one of their most popular destination in Southeast Asia alongside Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia At the present, the number of “New” Chinese migrants is still increasing, and expected to be more in the future This fact draws the attention of this paper to discuss the differences of Chinese migration pattern to Thailand between the previous generation and the present one This differentiation indicates that the present migration brings about changes to the representation of Chinese settlement in Thailand in both social cultural and economic meaning Keyword: Chinese migration Migration pattern Thailand Introduction It is believed that the earliest Chinese migration to thailand dates back to the 13 th century during the Sukhothai kingdom (Skinner, 2003) According to Chansiri (2008), there have been five major migrations of Chinese to Thailand The first migration began during the first Thai Kingdom (Sukhothai) in 1253, Thailand established relation with Chinese emperor and the Chinese began to arrive in Thailand to trade The second migration began during the 14th century (1318, at the start of the Ayutthaya till 1766) The Chinese arrived in Thailand during this period to fill a labor shortage The third migration spanned 40 years between 1767 and 1807, before and after Rattanakosin (Bangkok) was established (in 1782) The fourth migration took place over the course of 130 years, from 1807-1937, its make Chinese population in Thailand grew rapidly in this period, 230,000 in 1825 (4.75 percent of the total Thai population), grew to 337,000 in 1860 (6 percent of the total thai population) and 792,000 in 1910 (9.4 percent) The fifth migration began in 1938 and extending until the 1980s Sakkarin (2015) wrote on his study (the fourth wave: Southeast Asia and Chinese migrant), Chinese began to migrate oversea in large number since the mid-17th century, three waves of Chinese out-migration had contributed to the emergence of Chinese communities and networks of Chinese diasporas around the globe, especially Southeast Asia Since China‘s major economic reform in 1978, when the People‘s Republic of china (PRC) re- opened the door to the world from which its people had been hermetically sealed for almost half century, there was the large number of Chinese have ventured out in what 483 has been termed the ―New Chinese Migration‖ According to Zhuang and Wang (2010), some two and a half million Chinese have made their way to southeast Asia, with the large numbers in Myanmar(over million), Thailand and Singapore(just short of half a million), and smaller number in Vietnam and Malaysia By 1990, there were already estimated 20 million ethnic Chinese settle in Southeast Asia In Thailand, the new pattern of migration make this contemporary Chinese migration are different from the previous generation: Their place of origin is more diverse; they have higher education levels; they migrate to Thailand for different reasons - business, investment, study and for job opportunities Diversity of places of origin The previous group of the Chinese migrant in Thailand, classified by their dialect, can be identified by the following group The first group is Teachiu, the largest Chinese dialect group in Thailand, they come from the northern part of Guangdong province, Chaozhou and Shantou area The second group is Hakka, the second largest group in Thai kingdom, they come from the southern east coach of china stretching from Fujian to Guangxi and Guangzhou The third group is Hainanese, the group of migrant from Hainan Island a part of Guangdong province The fourth group is Cantonese, the largest group in South China, they mainly come from the center city of Guangdong, Guangzhou The fifth group is Hokkien, the dialect group from city in Fujian province southern china The last group is Yunnanese, the group of migrant from Yunnan Province, normally settle in the northern part of Thailand In term of number, 56 percent belong to the Taechiu group, 16 percent are the Hakka, 12 percent are Hainanese, percent are Hokkien, percent are Cantonese and percent from the group such as the Yunnanese (Chansiri, 2008) Because of the long historical migration of Chinese to Thailand, it is important to recognize the current ethnic Chinese population of Thailand is not a homogenous group The contemporary group of Chinese migrants are different from previous generation Their place of origin is more diverse, not just from Guangdong and Fujian province There are more and more Chinese new migrant from the different major city of China such as Beijing, shanghai, Guangxi and rural regions like Shandong, Sichuan, Nanning, Chongqing and Zhejiang Reflexing by the number of different style Chinese restaurant appeared in many new Chinatown in several part of Thailand, that become more diverse than the past, such as Yunnan cuisine, Sichuan BBQ, Peking roast duck, and Chongqing hotpot Differentiating contemporary Chinese Migrants Gungwu Wang (1991) differentiates the Chinese migrant in to several types: the first type is the trader who went oversea in the 13th century; the second type is the coolie or the unskilled, landless laborers from the peasant class who move to Thailand during the 19th and 20th centuries; the third group is the sojourner from a more educated and cultured class that left china after 1949 But nowadays, because of the high level of contemporary economic cooperation, in the form of bilateral trade, Chinese investment and contracted projects between Thailand and china have brought the new group of Chinese migrated to Thailand 484 Skilled migrants, the group of contemporary migrants become more educated, skillful, enterprising, and conversant with English and Thai language skill They have allowed to venture into a variety of fields, including Law, Banking, public relation, Language Teaching (Chinese language) and retail industries The department of employment, Thailand, reported that 18,812 Chinese obtained work permit in 2015, almost double the figure of 9618 Chinese in 2011 Student, in 2013, the number of Chinese student enrolled in college entrance examination reached 9.12 million in this number only 87 percent of students can get into the university (Hongzhi Yin, AtthapatRuangkanjanases, and Chenin Chen, 2015) At the same period, the number of Thai student has dropped as a result of the low birth rate and the increasing number of University in Thailand affect Thai University (including private University and public University) have begun to sign agreement with Chinese institution to bring in Chinese student Office of the Higher Education commission statistic show the number of Chinese student in Thai tertiary institutions has grown rapidly from 4618 student in 2011 to 6157 students in 2015 Different motivation during different periods The transnational migration of Chinese in contemporary period was more diverse than in the past The old immigrant often fled from unstable social conditions in china, such as War or natural disaster (Sukolartanametee, 2012; Jiang, 1992; Skinner, 2005; Chantavanich, 1991) But the outcome of China‘s economic reform have made the contemporary Chinese people different from the past It affect the transnational migration pattern of these immigrants were different from those in the previous generation, the new migrant had more power to make the decision to migrate by themselves in order to seek areas of opportunity where they could increase their income and improve their quality of life (Lin, 2017) The new group of Chinese migrated to Thailand for seeking economic opportunity rather than mere economic survival (Sakkarin, 2012) As a survey by the institute of Asian Studies Asian research centre for migration at Chulalongkorn University found many new Chinese migrant bring significant funds to invest in strat-ups in Bangkok, such as 30 shipping and logistics operator, 14 Chinese Restaurant and 18-20 beauty product shops which 100 percent owned and operated by Chinese Conclusion In conclusion, Change in the social context, economic condition and political policies of both Thai and China in the globalization era led to the new pattern of migration among the Chinese Who moving to seek for the new opportunity in Thailand And this will change the image of Chinese migrants in the past generation who ―travel with just a mat and a pot1‖ The Thai expression on the Chinese migrants in the past who travelled with just a few belonging, enduring many hardships in the hope if they could get to Thailand they would enjoy a prosperous life 485 References Ruji Auethavornpipat (2011) Flexible Identity: Unfolding the Identity of the Chinese-Thai Population in Contemporary Thailand The arbutus Review, Vol.2, No.1, 34 Wang Gungwu (2006) Pattern of Chinese migration in historical perspective The Chinese oversea USA:Routledge, 33-40 Skinner, G.W (2003) Chinese society in Thailand: an analytical history (2nd Ed.) Bangkok: The Toyota Foundation and the Foundation of the Social Science and Humanities Text Book project Zhuang Guotu and Wang Wangbo (2010) ―Migration and Trade: The role of Oversea Chinese in Economic Relation between China and Southeast Asia,‖ International Journal of Chiana Studies, 1(1):173-193 Disaphol Chansiri (2008) The Chinese Emigres of Thailand in the twentieth Century USA: Cambria press, 21-36 Hongzhi Yin, AtthapatRuangkanjanases, and Chenin Chen (2015) Factors Affecting Chinese Students‘ Decision Making toward Thai Universities International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol 5, No Lin Lan (2017) The Transitional Migration Process of New Chinese Migrant Trader in Bobae Market Udon Thani, Thailand Journal of Mekong Societies, Vol.13 No.2, 45-64 Sakkarin Niyomsilapa (2012) The fourth Wave: Southeast Asia and new Chinese Migrants Paper presented at the national social science conference Miracle grand Hotel, Bangkok, 18-19 June 2012 486 ... 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