Pagon Gatchalee

Pagon Gatchalee

Lecturer, Department of Marketing, Chiang Mai University Business School

Pagon Gatchalee is a lecturer at the Department of Marketing at Chiang Mai University Business School.

Wichayanon Road in Chinatown, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2018. (Wikimedia)

New Chinese migrants forming parallel communities in Chiang Mai

While descendants of older Chinese migrants in Thailand consider themselves Thai, hold Thai citizenship, and speak the language, new Chinese migrants tend to struggle when interacting with the locals due to the language barrier and negative stereotypes about foreign Chinese held by the locals. Their inability to integrate has led to the growth of parallel communities, where new Chinese migrants seek each other out for their social needs, instead of mingling with Thais. How can new Chinese migrants integrate better with the locals?