Thai women in Sweden : Victims or participants?

Migration from Thailand to Sweden is a rapidly growing phenomenon with a threefold increase over the last ten years, with the majority of migrants being female marriage migrants. In the media and popular culture, stereotyping of Thai-Swedish couples is commonplace; focusing on unequal power relations, sex tourism and other social problems which often position Thai women ‘as both materialist rural women and ignorant victims’ (Sunanta 2013, 193). Our paper positions and explores the status of this unique group of migrants through a power and agency lens and by adopting a multi-methods approach. Using register data, we are able to give a detailed picture of the migration and socio-demographic features of Thais in Sweden, while in-depth interviews with Thai women provide nuanced understandings of Thai-Sweden migration. We find a complex narrative of migration, where Thai women are active agents in their migration process but still face many inequalities in Sweden. A diversified picture of these women is revealed, giving an inside view into their lives that goes beyond and break common stereotypes.When The World Goes Rural - International Migration Flows Changing the Swedish Countryside? (Formas) and Register-based Research in Nordic Demography (Swedish Research Council