The Roles of ICTs in The Fostering of Translocal Migration Aspirations and Capabilities : The Case of Labor Migration from Thailand to South Korea

Reena Tadee, Institute for Population and Social Research
Patrick Sakdapolrak, Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna
Raffaella Pagogna, Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna

Previous studies show Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) play important roles during migration decision making. Utilizing the concept of translocality, we assess the roles of ICTs in the fostering of migration aspirations and capabilities through the case of labor migrants from Thailand to South Korea. We conducted multi-sited ethnography fieldwork in Thailand and South Korea during April - September 2022 where 88 interviews with aspiring, former, and current migrants as well as other stakeholders were collected. In addition, surveys on ICTs use were collected among migrants’ household members in the studied communities in Thailand as well as Thai migrants in Korea. The study employed mixed-method analysis of the collected interviews and surveys. The results of our study shows that ICTs play important roles in constituting both migration aspirations and capabilities by serving as spaces for the dissemination of destination-related information and images, facilitating translocal connections and enabling access of knowledge and information on migration steps and of the destinations, as well as expanding migrants' networks, concurrently mitigating the associated risks and costs of migration. We argue that such processes shaped by ICTs collectively contribute to the fostering of translocal aspirations and capabilities for migration.

Keywords: International Migration, Mixed methods research, Qualitative data/methods/approaches

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