The Role of Social Media in Community Building for Illegal Vietnamese Migrant Workers in Thailand

Abstract

Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand along with those from other neighboring countries increasingly play an important role in the local economy. They are also an important source of income for the sending country. However, the illegal status of Vietnamese workers in Thailand presents a number of challenges both individually and communally. This paper explores the difficulties faced by Vietnamese who come to this country to make a living. These difficulties arise not only from having to work illegally, but also from social, cultural, and linguistic barriers that they must confront in the Thai environment. It proposes that these difficulties are partially made easier by the availability of social media, in particular Facebook. The prevalent use of Facebook among Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand helps to build community by connecting family, friends, and faith groups together, by serving as a resource for important news and information pertaining to legal and social issues that directly affect them, and by serving as a means for community support in time of crisis. This paper argues that social media, as seen in the case of Vietnamese migrant workers, can effectively be used by community and religious leaders to provide various types of support for migrant workers living in diaspora.

Keywords: Vietnamese migrant workers, social media, Vietnamese in diaspora