Author: Chusana K. Han
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Diss. no.GD-08-01
Year: 2008
Academic Program: Gender and Development Studies (GDS)
Type: Thesis (Ph.D.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2008
Examination Committee: Bernadette P. Resurreccion (Chairperson); Kyoko Kusakabe, Willi Zimmermann, Mari Osawa (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: Female rural-urban migration has significantly cont ributed to the economic growth of Thailand in the last three decades, particularly in industry and tourism. What is less known, however, is how migrant women navigate their lives in the city and, in particular, their experience of violent relationships from whic h they attempt to free themselves. In this study domestic violence is highlighted in the parti cular context of rural-urban female migration. The process of migration to the city ser ves as the framework, within which issues of cultural construction of gender, labor ma rket conditions in the city, male domination and gender identity all intertwine. On t he basis of in-depth interviews with 38 migrant women and focus group discussions with ten of these in two Bangkok shelters, this study found the migrant women exposed to broad form s of gender inequality such as those in between class, labor status and cultural norms. The women’s departure from the village homes is de rived from the cultural obligation as a daughter to remit earning back home , the aspiration for modernity and the desire to be independent from parental control. Ho wever, with low education and vocational skills, they mostly worked in the servic es and entertainment for tourism sectors. Some of them even had to opt for jobs as sexual wor kers to earn enough income for money remittances home. Most women cohabited with men the y met in the city. The conditions of low wage, unstable income, and unwanted pregnancy h ad made the features of male control become more evident. Some pregnant women an d mothers of dependent children had to stop working, lost their income, were forced for abortion and abandoned by their partners. They frequently could not solicit help fr om their village home because the weakening of remittance and their contesting the pa rental control by cohabitation
Scholarship Donor(s): Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program(JJ/WBGSP)
Note: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development
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