Abstract:
The purposes of this research are study to changes of illegal migration process of Thai labours into the Republic of Korea, to study the factors that encourage labours to decide to do illegal way and to study the government aspect through the problem. This study illustrates the change of illegal Thai migrant workers through the lens of international labour migration, mobility and criminological. It aims to identify dynamism and factors influencing labours decision-making in regard to their illegality. The data is collected from in-depth interviews of the experienced labours, travel agents, government officers together with participant observation and documentary research. The findings from the study show that the approach of illegal migration has mainly changed from formerly relying solely on illegal agents to traveling alone while having the helpers at the destination. Compared with the past mobility, most of the recent illegal labors have higher education and younger age, especially those who just marked their first step as illegal migrants. Originally, people with economic-stricken background was the main group in seeking opportunities through illegal labour market. However, as the study shows from the recent mobility, the middle-class family with no debts also participated in this illegal labour market. Income still remains as a major decision-making factor, but other factorsthe wider economic opportunities, the recognition of legal gap and mild punishment, the availability of information through online access as well as the experiences from traveling the worldalso play a great roles in the changing pattern of illegal migratory practices.