Overseas Thai

Overseas Thai people (Thai: คนไทยพลัดถิ่น, คนไทยในต่างแดน) number approximately 1.1 million persons worldwide. They can be roughly divided into two groups:

A "non-resident Thai" is a citizen of Thailand who holds a Thai passport and has temporarily emigrated to another country for employment, residence, education or any other purpose. The Bank of Thailand estimates that, as of 2016, 1,120,837 Thais worked overseas.[1]

  • Israel: As of 2018, a total of 24,746 Thais, mostly agricultural workers, temporarily resided in Israel. They reportedly earn a minimum of about 47,000 baht a month.[2][3]
  • Republic of Korea: As of September 2018, there were reportedly 192,163 Thais living in South Korea.[4] The Korean Justice Ministry estimates that the number of illegal Thai residents soared from 68,449 in 2017 to 122,192 as of August 2018.[5]

A "person of Thai origin" is a person of Thai origin or ancestry who was or whose ancestors were born in Thailand or other countries under Thai ancestry and holds non-Thai citizenship. A person of Thai origin might have been a citizen of Thailand and subsequently taken the citizenship of another country.

  1. ^ Rujivanarom, Pratch (2017-12-23). "Thais working abroad prone to exploitation". The Nation. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  2. ^ Charoensuthipan, Penchan (2018-11-30). "Israel a new graveyard for migrant workers". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  3. ^ "Israel's forgotten Thai workers" (Video). BBC News. 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  4. ^ "More than 10,000 Thais deported from South Korea for overstaying their visa". The Nation. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  5. ^ Seung-jae, Kim (5 November 2018). "Thousands of Illegal Thai Workers Flood Korea". The Chosunilbo. Retrieved 5 November 2018.