THAILAND

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Thailand participated in labor migration from the mid-1970s, with an increasing flow of migrants directed toward the Middle East. A diplomatic incident in the late 1980s with Saudi Arabia brought that migration to a sharp decrease. The flow resumed in the early 1990s with the opening of migration to Taiwan, in which Thai workers are the major group.
However, in the 1990s Thailand also started to become a country of immigration, mostly from the neighboring countries, particularly Myanmar. In 1997, before the crisis, migrants in Thailand were more than one million, over 80 percent from Myanmar and mostly an an irregular status. In 1998 perhaps three hundred thousand migrants were repatriated.
Thai migrants by countries of destination | Regular and irregular migrants in Thailand | Migration events in 1998 | Migration in 1999 | Migration in 2000

Annual flow of migrants from Thailand, 1993-1997

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SOCIAL INDICATORS		ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Human Development Index Rank (2001)	66	Growth Rate of GDP, 2000	4.2
Gender Development Index Rank (2001)	58	Per Capita GNP (PPP US$), 1999	6,132
Population (m) 2001	62	Changes in Consumer Prices, 2000	1.6
Total Fertility Rate (births per woman) 1999	2.0	Balance of Trade ($ million), 2000	5,527
Life Expectancy (male/female) 1999	67/73	Balance of Payment on Current Acc. (% GDP), 2000	8.2
Combined enrollment ratio (1999)	60	Foreign Direct Investment ($ million), 1999	6,213
Percent of population below poverty (1999)	13	External Debt Outstanding ($ million), 2000	80,248

Source: Human Development Report 2001		Source: Asian Development Outlook 2001