Migration: A Teacher’s Perspective
“How long have you been living here in Thailand?”, this is the question I always ask to foreign teachers in my school. And to my amazement and more often than not I would be given answers like 5, 10 and the most is 15 years. Well, maybe it is just my own thing that I don’t want to uproot myself in the country that I was born and grew up with but I respect their reasons and they are worth discussing in this paper.
Migration as defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary simply means moving from one country or from area to another. A clear example for this social phenomenon is the people in Asia moving from their countries to a foreign country in the West such as the United States, the United Kingdom or Canada. Popularity of migration to the European continent is also creating a wave and becoming popular destinations among people who search for a new life. But what makes a person give up the kind of life that he used to and live a life that is sometimes entirely different from theirs?
Whenever I have the chance to talk some of my foreign friends who are teaching here in Thailand, I get to ask them at times their reasons for moving out from their country and engaging a new life in a foreign land. Primarily, they are here for economic reasons. Jobs, jobs, jobs, and jobs and scarcity of jobs they say. They are here in search for a greener pasture that their countries cannot offer. Majority of the foreign teachers in my school are from one of Thailand’s neighboring countries who have an ample supply of skilled workforce but unfortunately their country is unable to provide them with better opportunities that drive them to flock almost all the countries in the world. As they say name one country in the world even an unknown island and there would be one of us there. They are known for being skilled and their expertise is being heralded by employers abroad. As a result, a continuous exodus of skilled workforce takes place almost every day at their airports and seaports around their country. The compensation that they receive is often 4 to 6 times higher than what they receive in their home country. With the money that they receive abroad, they are able to fund a construction of a new house, send their kids to decent schools, pay for their bills and save extra when their retirement comes.
Aside from searching for a greener pasture, the work environment from their home countries is one of their considerations. Migration is not only endemic to Asians but also with our Western counterparts. With the looming of political crises in the West and failure of some economic policies, some of our Western friends are enticed to pack their bags and leave their friends and families that they cherish the most. Talking about the work environment, they all say that it is more relaxed to work here in Asia specifically here in Thailand as compared to the West. It is also easier to find a teaching job here in particular with a bachelor degree than their home countries. Because of the economic crises recent or fresh graduates are sometime forced to work in coffee shops, cafes or restaurants to make both ends meet. After graduation some graduates are also obliged to pay their student loans but fail to do so because of the lack of opportunities for them. The pay they say might not be equal but is compensated with the relaxed work environment here in Thailand. In addition, as the West is shifting its manufacturing base and jobs abroad like multinational corporations having their bases in Asia, it might be a good move for them to come and work here. Furthermore, taxes also contributed to their desire to leave their countries. Some of them are being taxed in their income from 20 percent to 50 percent depending on their income. Although it gives benefit to the country as a whole by providing better welfare for the people such health, education, and pensions, the system is being abused by people who are not working and migrants who just depend on welfare benefits.
Search for adventure and a new life is also one of the reasons why people migrate . Conquering the world gratifies the thirst and hunger of adventurous individual who want consider the world as their abode. Many young people and middle-age people embark themselves in unknown journeys of their lives out of sheer adventure. This thrill-seeking people leave the comfort of their homes to explore the place and live like the natives of the country of their destinations. They are fond of meeting new people, acquaint themselves to a foreign culture and try everything new that would ease their boredom in life. Many say that doing this kind of thing made them a new person and it broadens their horizon as a global citizen. Some of them go back to their home countries but some of them suited well that they have adapted well the way the locals live. They also added there is a sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment when they live in a foreign land.
And finally, all of the reasons mentioned above are voluntary, but there are times that people are left without any choice but to leave their country because of the never ending war or political turmoil at home. Mostly, these people are displaced by wars and they try to seek asylums in other host countries. They suffer so much that they have no options but to leave everything behind and start a new life in the host countries. In this case, a new community is being built in the host countries.
As a whole, migration is driven by so many forces. And these could be economically driven such as the scarcity of jobs fom the migrants home countries, work environment, search for adventure or politically driven. These reasons force them to leave their homes and embark a new life in a foreign land. There may be advantages and disadvantages to the receiving countries be it economically, politically, socially, as well as geographically but I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Migration: A Teacher’s Perspective
“How long have you been living here in Thailand?”, this is the question I always ask to foreign teachers in my school. And to my amazement and more often than not I would be given answers like 5, 10 and the most is 15 years. Well, maybe it is just my own thing that I don’t want to uproot myself in the country that I was born and grew up with but I respect their reasons and they are worth discussing in this paper.
Migration as defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary simply means moving from one country or from area to another. A clear example for this social phenomenon is the people in Asia moving from their countries to a foreign country in the West such as the United States, the United Kingdom or Canada. Popularity of migration to the European continent is also creating a wave and becoming popular destinations among people who search for a new life. But what makes a person give up the kind of life that he used to and live a life that is sometimes entirely different from theirs?
Whenever I have the chance to talk some of my foreign friends who are teaching here in Thailand, I get to ask them at times their reasons for moving out from their country and engaging a new life in a foreign land. Primarily, they are here for economic reasons. Jobs, jobs, jobs, and jobs and scarcity of jobs they say. They are here in search for a greener pasture that their countries cannot offer. Majority of the foreign teachers in my school are from one of Thailand’s neighboring countries who have an ample supply of skilled workforce but unfortunately their country is unable to provide them with better opportunities that drive them to flock almost all the countries in the world. As they say name one country in the world even an unknown island and there would be one of us there. They are known for being skilled and their expertise is being heralded by employers abroad. As a result, a continuous exodus of skilled workforce takes place almost every day at their airports and seaports around their country. The compensation that they receive is often 4 to 6 times higher than what they receive in their home country. With the money that they receive abroad, they are able to fund a construction of a new house, send their kids to decent schools, pay for their bills and save extra when their retirement comes.
Aside from searching for a greener pasture, the work environment from their home countries is one of their considerations. Migration is not only endemic to Asians but also with our Western counterparts. With the looming of political crises in the West and failure of some economic policies, some of our Western friends are enticed to pack their bags and leave their friends and families that they cherish the most. Talking about the work environment, they all say that it is more relaxed to work here in Asia specifically here in Thailand as compared to the West. It is also easier to find a teaching job here in particular with a bachelor degree than their home countries. Because of the economic crises recent or fresh graduates are sometime forced to work in coffee shops, cafes or restaurants to make both ends meet. After graduation some graduates are also obliged to pay their student loans but fail to do so because of the lack of opportunities for them. The pay they say might not be equal but is compensated with the relaxed work environment here in Thailand. In addition, as the West is shifting its manufacturing base and jobs abroad like multinational corporations having their bases in Asia, it might be a good move for them to come and work here. Furthermore, taxes also contributed to their desire to leave their countries. Some of them are being taxed in their income from 20 percent to 50 percent depending on their income. Although it gives benefit to the country as a whole by providing better welfare for the people such health, education, and pensions, the system is being abused by people who are not working and migrants who just depend on welfare benefits.
Search for adventure and a new life is also one of the reasons why people migrate . Conquering the world gratifies the thirst and hunger of adventurous individual who want consider the world as their abode. Many young people and middle-age people embark themselves in unknown journeys of their lives out of sheer adventure. This thrill-seeking people leave the comfort of their homes to explore the place and live like the natives of the country of their destinations. They are fond of meeting new people, acquaint themselves to a foreign culture and try everything new that would ease their boredom in life. Many say that doing this kind of thing made them a new person and it broadens their horizon as a global citizen. Some of them go back to their home countries but some of them suited well that they have adapted well the way the locals live. They also added there is a sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment when they live in a foreign land.
And finally, all of the reasons mentioned above are voluntary, but there are times that people are left without any choice but to leave their country because of the never ending war or political turmoil at home. Mostly, these people are displaced by wars and they try to seek asylums in other host countries. They suffer so much that they have no options but to leave everything behind and start a new life in the host countries. In this case, a new community is being built in the host countries.
As a whole, migration is driven by so many forces. And these could be economically driven such as the scarcity of jobs fom the migrants home countries, work environment, search for adventure or politically driven. These reasons force them to leave their homes and embark a new life in a foreign land. There may be advantages and disadvantages to the receiving countries be it economically, politically, socially, as well as geographically but I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
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