“Burmese Diasporas”: The Formation of a Temporary Translocal Community of Burmese Migrant Workers in Ubon Ratchathani Province

Abstract

This article examines factors contributing to the establishment of a temporary translocal community—a type of diaspora-- of Burmese migrant workers in Ubon Ratchathani Province. The study uses a qualitative research methodology, collecting data by observation, focus groups, and in-depth interviews (using a Burmese translator) among eight legal Burmese migrant workers at a garment company in Ubon Ratchathani Province. The research showed that the formation of a temporary migrant community of Burmese workers in Ubon Ratchathani was a result of both external and internal factors. External factors include rapid economic, social, cultural, and political changes, and declining ideological conflicts and war in the Mekong region since the 1990s. The article also considers processes of globalization and the role of expanding trade and investment cooperation in regional integration. Economic factors in the country of origin and increasing ease of migration drive workers to seek employment in neighboring countries where the economic conditions are more lucrative. Internal factors include having a Memorandum of Understanding on Employment Cooperation (MOU) simplifying labor migration, as well as economic factors such as labor shortages in the destination country, and an expansive social network among Burmese migrant workers combine to create temporary translocal communities of Burmese migrant workers in Ubon Ratchathani Province.