Migration, Brokerage and Recruitment Examining the Socio-cultural Factors Surrounding Thai Phi-noy Undocumented Migrant Workers in South Korea
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This research examines the unskilled labor migration using private intermediaries in South Korea. The study also reviews the Employment Permit System of South Korea in this regard. The empirical study took place in South Korea with a supplementary trip visiting the migration origin, Bangkok, Thailand. A qualitative method was used with the predominant part being a semi-structured interview with Thai undocumented workers in Daegu. This research fills the gap in the existing body of research by uncovering the process of undocumented labor migration in the discourse of culture of migration. The tolerant practice of the Thai Government towards undocumented workers has set an example to prospective Thai migrant workers who follow the undocumented path to go to Korea. The unique fuzzy attitude of some Thais led them to try their luck without a concrete plan to go to work in South Korea on a whim. The informal brokers find their role even they are excluded in the Employment Permit System of South Korea. They actively convey a positive but biased image of an easy path of undocumented labor migration as an alternative to the formal procedure.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
For submissions from 31st March 2014 onwards, authors who submit articles to this journal for publication agree to the following terms:
a) Retaining Copyright and Granting Rights:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, allowing others to share and adapt the work. Acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal is required.
b) Non-Exclusive Distribution:
Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., posting to an institutional repository or publishing in a book). Acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal is required.
c) Online Posting and Citation Advantage:
Authors are encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process. This may lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of the published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). If authors include the work in an institutional repository or on their website, they must acknowledge the UTS ePRESS publication with relevant details.
d) Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License Awareness:
Authors should note that the CC-BY License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute) and adapt (remix, transform, build upon) the work for any purpose, including commercial use. Proper credit, a link to the license, and indication of any changes made must be provided. The manner of doing so must not suggest endorsement by you or your publisher.
For Volume 10 No 2 (2013) and earlier, the following copyright applied:
Authors submitting a paper to UTSePress publications agree to assign a limited license to UTSePress if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication. This license allows UTSePress to publish the manuscript in a specific issue.
Articles published by UTSePress are protected by copyright, with rights retained by the authors, who assert their moral rights. Authors control translation and reproduction rights to their works published by UTSePress. All rights are reserved worldwide by UTSePress, and downloads of specific portions are permitted for personal use only, not commercial use or resale.
For reprint or usage permissions, please direct inquiries to UTSePress via the journal's main editor, Dr. Nicholas Manganas at [portal.scholarly.journal@gmail.com]. Reprint permission requires acknowledgment of both UTSePress and PORTAL in the format advised by the journal editor.
References
Chan, K.L.S. 2018, ‘Deprivation of Citizenship, Undocumented Labour and Human Trafficking: Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand’, Regions & Cohesion, vol. 8, no. 2, 82-106.
Chan, K.L.S. 2021(forthcoming), ‘Transnational Brokers and the Desire for Labor Migration: Decision-Making Process of Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand’, Journal of International Migration and Integration.
Chantavanich, 2008, The Mekong Challenge: An Honest Broker- Improving Cross-border Recruitment Practices for the Benefit of Government, Workers and Employers, International Labour Organization, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.
Chantavanich, S., Vungsiriphisal, P. & Laodumrongchai, S. 2007, Thailand policies Towards Migrant Workers from Myanmar, Asian Research Centre for Migration, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Cho, Y., Denisova, A., Yi, S. & Khadka, U. 2018, Bilateral Arrangement of Temporary Labor Migration: Lessons from Korea’s Employment Permit System - Policy Brief. World Bank Group, Washington, D.C, available: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/645571537423013613/Bilateral-Arrangement-of-Temporary-Labor-Migration-Lessons-from-Korea-s-Employment-Permit-System-Policy-Brief
Cohen, J.H. and Sirkeci, I. 2011, Cultures of Migration: The Global Nature of Contemporary Mobility. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
EPS, Employment Permit System (n.d.) Introduction of Employment Permit System. Available at: https://www.eps.go.kr/ph/index.html [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Galam, R.G. 2015, Through the Prism of Seamen’s Left-behind Wives: Imagination and the Culture of Migration in Ilocos, Philippines. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, vol. 24, no. 2: 137–159.
Hahn, C.H. & Choi, Y.S. 2006, ‘The Effects of Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Korea: Overview and Empirical Assessment’, paper presented at The Korea and the World Economy Conference, Seoul, KOR, July 7–8, 2006, available: http://faculty.washington.edu/karyiu/confer/seoul06/papers/hahn-choi.pdf [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Harkins, B. 2019, Thailand Migration Report 2019, available: https://reliefweb.int/report/thailand/thailand-migration-report-2019-enth [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Horvath, I. 2008, ‘The Culture of Migration of Rural Romanian Youth’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 34, no. 5: 771-786. DOI: 10.1080/13691830802106036.
Ibrahim Sirkeci & Cohen, J.H. 2016, Cultures of Migration and Conflict in Contemporary Human Mobility in Turkey, European Review, vol. 24, no. 3: 381–396. DOI:10.1017/S1062798716000119
István, H. 2008, ‘The Culture of Migration of Rural Romanian Youth’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 34, no. 5: 771-786. DOI: 10.1080/13691830802106036.
International Labor Organization 2008, The Mekong Challenge: An Honest Broker- Improving Cross-border Recruitment Practices for the Benefit of Government, Workers and Employers. International Labor Organization, Bangkok.
Kandel, W. & Massey, D.S. 2002, ‘The Culture of Mexican Migration: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis’, Social Forces, vol. 80, no. 3: 981-1004.
Kijewski, N. 2018, ‘Undocumented in Thailand’, New Naratif, available: https://newnaratif.com/journalism/undocumented-in-thailand/ [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Kim, K.R. 2016, ‘Number of foreign workers in South Korea nearing 1 million’, The Hankyoreh, 23 October. Online, available: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/766834.html [Assessed September 8, 2017].
Laodamrongchai, S. 2016, Research Report on the Labor Migration Management to Work Abroad, Asia Research Center for Migration, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Lindquist, J. 2015, ‘Of Figures and Types: Brokering Knowledge and Migration in Indonesia and Beyond’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, N.S.: 162-177.
Lindquist J., Xiang, B. & Yeoh, B. 2012, ‘Opening the Black Box of Migration: Brokers, the Organization of Transnational Mobility and the Changing Potential Economy in Asia’, Pacific Affairs, vol. 85: 7-19.
National Statistics Office, Thailand 2019, Summary of the labor force survey in Thailand: January 2017, available: http://web.nso.go.th/en/survey/data_survey/200260_summary_Jan_2017.pdf [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Nyein, N. 2019, ‘The Struggle Continues for Myanmar Migrants in Thailand’, The Irrawaddy, 2 May. Online, available: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/struggle-continues-myanmar-migrants-thailand.html [Assessed 1 August 2019].
OECD 2019, Recruiting Immigrant Workers: Korea 2019, Recruiting Immigrant Workers, OECD Publishing, Paris, available: at https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264307872-en [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Ock, H.J. 2016, ‘Korea takes aim at illegal immigration’, The Korea Herald, 4 April. Online, available: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160404000876. [Assessed September 8, 2017].
Sakaeew, S. & Tangpratchakorn, P. 2009, Brokers and Labor Migration from Myanmar: A Case Study from Samut Sakhon. The Labor Rights Promotion Network, Bangkok.
Smutkupt, S. 2014, ‘Being khon phi as a Form of Resistance among Thai Migrant Workers in Korea’, SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, vol. 29, no. 3: 721-37. DOI: 10.1355/sj29-3g
Sorensen, N.N. & Grammeltoft-Hansen, T. 2013, ‘Introduction’, In The Migration Industry and the Commercialization of International Migration, (eds.) N.N. Sorensen & T. Grammeltoft-Hansen, Routledge, New York, NY: 1-23.
Statistics Korea 2015, Population Trends and Projections of the World and Korea, available: http://kostat.go.kr/portal/eng/pressReleases/8/8/index.board?bmode=read&aSeq= 347597&pag- [Assessed 1 August 2019].
Timmerman, C., Hemmerechts, K. & Clerck, H.M. 2014, ‘The Relevance of a “Culture of Migration” in Understanding Migration Aspirations in Contemporary Turkey’, Turkish Studies, vol. 15, no. 3: 496–518, DOI: 10.1080/14683849.2014.954748
Van Mol, C., Snel, E., Hemmerechts, K. & Timmerman, C. 2018, ‘Migration Aspirations and Migration Cultures: A Case Study of Ukrainian Migration Towards the European Union’, Population, Space and Place, vol. 24, no. (e): 21-31. DOI: 10.1002/psp.2131.
Wilson, T.M., 2010, ‘The Culture of Mexican Migration’, Critique of Anthropology, vol. 30, no. 4: 399–420.