„Survive with the troubles”: Experiences of Urban Refugees in Bangkok

Abstract: Global urbanization led to a rather new phenomenon: urban refugees, who live on the margins of big cities. This study highlights the particular struggles and difficulties urban refugees from different contexts and backgrounds have to cope with in Thailand. The aim of this thesis is to better understand their living situation in Bangkok, contributing to the limited literature in this field. As Thailand does not recognize refugees legally, they try to make a living under tough conditions, fearing arbitrary arrests. Furthermore, these conditions lead urban refugees in Bangkok to live in their own communities, often separated from the Thai society. Being under these constrained living conditions, having limited access to health care, education and work, harms their well-being. The theoretical underpinnings provide the necessary framework to discuss the findings, focusing on the interplay between structure and agency, the exception of being a refugee in transit and waiting for resettlement, incorporating approaches like (im-)mobility, networks and dissimilation. The inductive design with a holistic approach, using semi-structured interviews and observations, offers profound knowledge from urban refugees themselves. The results display various aspects of refugees’ lives in Bangkok, like different reasons for moving to Thailand, lack of coherent and sustainable support systems, scarce experiences with the Thai society, vague legal status and its implications, their daily life or insights about their perceptions of the past, present and future. They are and will probably be one of the most vulnerable people residing in Thailand, trying to survive, lacking numerous basic and human rights.