Determining Factors for and Social Integration of Japanese Lifestyle Migrants in Bangkok, Thailand: a Case Study

Abstract

This qualitative case study aimed to find out the determining factors for and social integration of Japanese lifestyle migrants in Bangkok, Thailand. Two sessions of  in-depth interview with 10 Japanese lifestyle migrants in Bangkok (8 males & 2 females) were conducted with informed consent in mid-November 2012, by a female bilingual (Japanese-Thai) interpreter at a Japanese language school & cultural center in downtown Bangkok. Employing content analysis through verbatim transcription from an interpretation from Japanese language into Thai language, the results indicated that financial security, property market investment, and “transnational  habitation” (jukunenriju or physically separate living of Japanese couple but still legally committed) were the determining factors among the participants. Almost none of them used Thai language with the local people in their daily social activities. Participants preferred to do volunteer work as honorable “technical consultants” for interested Thai manufacturers. As global consumers, participants an “advisory” body in Japanese language (for advice-giving on issues such as visa renewal, accommodation, and banking), both for themselves and for their new colleagues. From the perspective of humane (lifestyle) migration, social integration should always be in focus. These findings supplementthe limited abailable literature regarding Bangkok-based Japanese lifestyle migration.