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The Rising Importance of Chinese Labour in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

John Walsh
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Migration is, fundamentally, a response to the uneven distribution of resources around the world or the variability of the environment, however broadly defined. [1] People move from one place to another place to take advantage of a better climate, possible access to better quality agricultural land, better-paying or more numerous jobs, freedom from oppression or discrimination and so forth. The phenomenon has dimensions such as degree of permanency and degree of voluntarism. In reality, it comprises a large number of categories and sub-categories and, as in the case of many of those Chinese people considered in this paper, people can pass through several categories as the result of changes in their own status and in that of the broader political context.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 12 , March 2009 , e2
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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Copyright © The Authors 2009

References

Notes

[1] An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Conference “The Future of Economic Integration in Asia,” Thammasat University-Japan Bank of International Cooperation Conference on The Future of Economic Integration in Asia (Bangkok, November, 2008).

[2] W-C. Chang, “From War Refugees to Immigrants: The Case of the KMT Yunnanese in Northern Thailand,” International Migration Review, Vol.35, No.4 (Winter, 2001), pp.1086-1105.

[3] J. Walsh and P. Techavimol, “Chinese Tourism in Thailand: Experiences and Satisfaction,” ASEAN Journal on Hospitality and Tourism, Vol.6, No.2 (July, 2007), pp.105-13.

[4] Amnesty International, Thailand: The Plight of Burmese Migrant Workers (June, 2005).

[5] ASEAN Secretariat, Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) 2004-2010 Jakarta: The ASEAN Secretariat, 2005).

[6] D. Fullbrook, “China Paves Way to Myanmar Riches,” Asian Times Online (November 1st, 2006).

[7] P. Shenon, “Mandalay Journal: Burmese Cry Intrusion (They Lack Great Wall),” New York Times (March 29th, 1994).

[8] J. Cochrane, A. Piore, P. Janssen, M. Vitug, B. Calvert and K. Kola, “Barbarians from the North,” Newsweek International (October 28th, 2002), p.63.

[9] H-H. Pai, Chinese Whispers: The True Story behind Britain's Hidden Army of Labour (London: Penguin Books, 2008).

[10] e.g. K. Kempadoo and J. Doezema, eds., Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition (Routledge, 1998).

[11] e.g. Human Rights Watch, Maid to Order: Ending Abuses against Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore (2005).

[12]. W. Foot, “China's Game Plan for Burma,” Asia Times Online (January 3rd, 2008).

[13] A. Gaetano and T. Jacka, “Introduction,” in Arianne M. Gaetano and Tamara Jacka, eds., On the Move: Women in Rural-to-Urban Migration in Contemporary China (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), pp.1-38.

[14] A. Beesey, “Return and Reintegration: Female Migrants from Yunnan to Thailand,” in Supang Chantavanich, Christina Wille, Kannika Angsuthanasombat, Maruja MB Asis, Allan Beesey and Sukamdi, Female Labour Migration in South-East Asia: Change and Continuity (Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University, 2001), pp.135-70.

[15] R. Murphy, “Domestic Migrant Remittances in China: Distribution, Channels and Livelihood,” IOM Migration Research Series No.24 (Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2006).

[16] ibid.

[17] B. McCartan (2008), “New-Age Chinatown Has Laotians on Edge,” Asia Times Online (July 26th, 2008).

[18] M. Sokchea (2008), “East Asian Languages Gaining in Popularity,” Phnom Penh Post, June 12th.

[19] MacIsaac (2008), “In Cambodia Urban Renewal Takes a Nasty Twist,” Asia Sentinel (April 16th,).

[20] Radio Free Asia (2008), “China's Growing Presence in Cambodia,” May 28th.

[21] M. Askew, W. Logan and C. Long, Vientiane: Transformations of a Lao Landscape (London and New York: Routledge, 2007).

[22] V. Maniwong and R.A. Cramb, “Economics of Smallholder Rubber Expansion in northern Laos,” Agroforestry Systems, Vol.74 (2008), pp.113-25.

[23] C. McCoy, “Seedlings in Evil Growing in Myanmar,” Asia Times Online (August 23rd, 2007).

[24] G. Gunn and B. McCartan, “Chinese Dams and the Great Mekong Floods of 2008,” Japan Focus (August 31st, 2008).