Ethnic Nationalism in Thailand’s Migrant Trafficking: Thai Identity and Otherness

Abstract

The research finds that discrimination based on Thai ethnic nationalism impacts the ways in which migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia, Laos are mistreated in the fishing and sex industries. While exclusionary sentiments affect discrimination on a personal level, the thesis proposes that the trade of trafficked migrants is largely dependent upon the power-ful market and geographical locality of Thailand and its neighboring countries. Based on the interviews of Thai government officials and NGO workers, the thesis finds that the traffick-ing industry is further perpetuated by the deep-seated institutional corruption that is pervasive throughout Thailand.