Lifestyle migration in East Asia: A comparative study of British and Asian lifestyle migrants

<p>Abstract copyright data collection owner.</p>Our research methodology is informed by structuration theory, practice theory and ethnographic methodology. An online survey was distributed to expatriate organisations and individual contacts and the sample was achieved through simple snowball techniques. The survey was ‘live’ through April to November 2012, and obtained 112 responses (57 from Malaysia, 54 from Thailand, and one who did not specify where he lived). Using the survey we were able to gather interesting demographic information. We also asked about migration histories, social lives, social networks and uses of technology for maintaining social ties, personal values and goals, and relationships with other ethnic groups. We understand this survey as contributing to the task of immersing oneself in the context – a key principle of ethnographic work. The fieldwork in Malaysia and Thailand took place between July and November 2012 during which time we undertook a total of 65 recorded interviews (Malaysia: 31; Thailand: 34). We used a variety of interview methods, including face-to-face, email, skype and telephone interviewing. Most of the interviews were conducted with British lifestyle migrants in Penang, Malaysia and in Hua Hin, Thailand. The rest were conducted through digital channels with respondents in other parts of Thailand and Malaysia. These included ‘expert’ interviews with consular staff and migration intermediaries, such as property developers and ‘expat’ magazine publishers. Not all interviews are archivable. Many other interviews were also undertaken within participant observation.<p>Project description:</p>This project examined the motivations, experiences and outcomes of Lifestyle Migration, as a contemporary form of social mobility, in South-East Asian contexts. The main research questions were: How are mobility and quality of life understood within eastern and western migrants’ everyday lives and with what consequences for the ways in which they make sense of themselves and their relationships with others? How, in the light of the above, can a more integrated and informed understanding of lifestyle migration and flexible citizenship be developed and how might this set an agenda for further research? These were addressed through an empirical study of British migrants to Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, and Hong Kong migrants to mainland China. The project was informed by strong structuration theory and employed virtual and visual ethnographic methods and life history interviews with migrant men and women. The research aimed to: increase the effectiveness of services and public policy (in UK, China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia); enhance UK economic competitiveness by encouraging effective help for, and mobilising resources of, British abroad; enhance quality of life through improved health and social welfare; to enhance mutual understanding in lifestyle destinations