Thai Guestworker Export in Decline: The Rise and Fall of the Thailand-Taiwan Migration System

Abstract

For decades, rural Thais have been employed as “guestworkers” in the Middle East and Asia. Once the predominate source of guest labor in Taiwan, Thais are being replaced by migrants from other countries. Building on the migration systems literature, we examine this transition. We find that Thais are increasingly deciding against work in Taiwan because of a diminishing wage gap between the two states. We argue that one outcome of the maturation of guestworker programs in Asia and the Middle East is the succession of migrant groups, especially a decline among those from relatively prosperous labor-sending states.