This research project analyses the mobility of older people from German speaking countries to Thailand. These mobilities may consist of short stays in Thailand, circular migration or the permanent moving to Thailand. A specific feature of these mobilities is that it is mainly single older men who migrate. These mobilities are often based on reduced life prospects in German-speaking countries and are often closely connected to the prostitution milieu in Thailand. The project analyses the men’s everyday life worlds and the social, financial and emotional implications of living in Thailand in old age. The study is based on the ethnographical approach and combines different forms of qualitative interviews, participatory observation, and document analysis.
Project director: Cornelia Schweppe
Research associates: Désirée Bender, Sonja Großmann
Funding: Gutenberg Research College (2016 -2019)
Publications:
Bender D., Hollstein T., and Schweppe, C. 2018. International retirement migration revisited: From amenity seeking to precarity migration? Transnational Social Review, 8, 98-102. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/mDTD5AE7brhjIN8NXw5P/full