The reason for why Thais come and work in Hong Kong is clichéd – as there is the demand for labour in Hong Kong. Slightly over 50% came to Hong Kong to fill up the domestic helper market which was in severe demand, others came to fill up the primary and secondary service industry including factory workers, sales or waitresses. Moreover, Hong Kong was known for the better economy so it attracts Thais to come as well. 

Thailand, on the other hand, has a history for migration for better paid opportunities too! Women’s workforce participation has been high historically speaking thus they are also opened to migration to other places. (Hewison, 2004, p.319) You may not be surprised that the government and agents indeed had offered Thais many Hong Kong specific trainings, from language courses, to learning about our culture, to learning how to do housework in the HK setting. (Bang-oer, 2003, as quoted in Hewison, 2004, p.327)

However, one thing that is special in the Thai migration case is that some immigrated for marriage, which has become a trend since 1970s. At the same time, there are also many Thai-speaking ethnic Chinese returning to HK in the 80s. These factors had made Thai community in Hong Kong a very diverse one!