Costs and Benefits of Cross-Country Labour Migration in the GMS

International labour migration can be characterised in three ways — as human aspiration, tradition, and necessity. For some people, working overseas is a dream. For others, international labour mobility is a tradition. For a great number of people, however, international labour migration is an economic necessity. It is the only viable solution to realise their basic human right to a decent life. GMS worker movements to Thailand typify all three characterisations of international labour mobility. While this book focuses on the economic dimensions of international labour emigration, principally from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to Thailand, it recognises at the very outset the equal standing of non-economic motivations for migration.