Migration from one’s parents’ home and sexual debut are common features
of the transition to adulthood. Although many studies have described both of these
features independently, few have examined the relationship between migration and
sexual debut in a systematic manner. In this study, we explore this link for young adults
in Thailand. With relatively high rates of internal migration, rapid modernization, a
moderate HIV epidemic, and a declining average age of sexual debut, Thailand presents
an instructive environment in which to examine migration and sexual debut. We use
two waves of a longitudinal data set (2005 and 2007) that includes a subsample of
young adults who migrated to urban areas during that period. We identify characteristics
and behaviors associated with sexual debut and examine the role of migration on
debut. Our approach reduces several common sources of bias that hamper existing
work on both migration and sexual debut: (1) the longitudinal nature of the data enables
us to examine the effects of characteristics that predate both behaviors of interest; (2)
the survey on sexual behavior employed a technique that reduces response bias; and (3)
we examine differences in debut by marital status. We find that migrants have a higher
likelihood of sexual debut than nonmigrants.