The Impacts Of International Labor Mobility Restriction On Internal Migration In Thailand

Due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and deterioration of domestic labor markets,the Thai government implemented an international labor mobility restriction policy from 1998 to 2000.Under this policy,international labors from Myanmar,Cambodia,and Laos(Known as MCL workers)were prohibited from working in a number of provinces in Thailand.The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impacts of international labor mobility restriction on internal migration of Thai citizens in Thailand.The micro data of internal migration in 1990,and 2000 is utilized in the empirical analysis,using the difference-in-difference approach based on a gravity model.The empirical results suggest that the restricted policy is likely to benefit the local labor market in the restricted region reflected by the lower unemployment rate.More importantly,the restricted region was able to attract more inflows from both high-skilled and low-skilled workers than the non-restricted region.However,the non-restricted region experienced a faster economic growth than the restricted region when the international labor mobility restriction policy was put in place.