Thai migrant women in the Netherlands : cross-cultural marriages and families

This thesis has focused on the cross-cultural marriage of Thai migrant women in the Netherlands and the ups-and-downs of their everyday life of creating and maintaining their relationships with their Dutch husband, Dutch in-laws, Thai relatives and friends in the Netherlands as well as family and non-migrant neighbours in Thailand. The objective of this research is to study four main questions: 1) What factors influence the Thai women to marry and to move? 2) What are the underlying family values in Thai and Dutch societies which shape the marital relationship of the Thai-Dutch couples and their interaction with natal and in-law families? 3) How do the Thai migrant women form, sustain and renew their relationships with kin and friends in the Netherlands? 4) What are the consequences of migration and transnationalism on the women’s and their families’ life transition and on daily experiences of non-migrants in the sending co mmunity? This study has applied a qualitative approach and such ethnographic research methods as a review of relevant literature, in-depth interviews and participant observation to the data collection and its analysis.