DEMOGRAPHY© Volume 22, Number 4 November 1985 RURAL-URBAN MOBILITY IN THAILAND: A DECISION-MAKING APPROACH Theodore D. Fuller Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 Paul Lightfoot University of Hull, Hull, England Peerasit Kamnuansilpa National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok 10240, Thailand INTRODUCTION This paper develops an individual, behavioral model of the decision-making process for rural-urban mobility, and applies this model to data from a Northeast Thai context dominated by circular rural-urban movement. Ultimately, the model attempts to explain the movement patterns of villagers. A vast literature attempts to identify the phenomena that regulate the mobility process. The importance of economic determinants of migration patterns is well documented (Shaw, 1975; Arnold and Cochrane, 1980; Todaro, 1969, 1976). Numer- ous studies, however, lead to the inescapable conclusion that simple economic models do not provide adequate explanations of migration patterns (Chamratrithir- ong, 1976; Roberts, 1981; Rhoda, 1983). The literature has identified a number of noneconomic variables that influence the migration process as well, including transportation networks (Prasartkul, 1977), educational opportunities (Rhoda, 1983), the "bright lights" phenomenon (Vichit-Vadakan, 1983), community norms (Hugo, 1981), and household-level dynamics (Findley, 1980; Harbison, 1981; Lightfoot et al., 1983). While we acknowledge the importance of macro-, community-, and household- level phenomena as regulators of the mobility process, our model focuses on individual-level factors in an effort to refine our understanding of rural-urban mobility. Our focus on the individual level permits us to examine more closely why-given an overall objective context-some people move while others do not. The model is developed in a context dominated by circular rural-urban move- ment. I Various forms of circulation are now important in Southeast Asia and are quantitatively far more significant than the types of permanent migration recorded by national censuses or traditional surveys (Goldstein, 1978; Hugo, 1982). Like other southeast Asian countries, Thailand has substantial circular rural-urban movement. This movement in Thailand has been recognized for at least two decades (Textor, 1961; deYoung, 1963) and recently has been quantitatively detailed in village studies in Central, North, and Northeast Thailand (Lauro, 1979; Singhanetra-Renard, 1981; Lightfoot et al., 1983). MODEL We use five explanatory variables in our theoretical model of mobility behavior: past mobility experience, urban social contacts, information about urban areas, evaluations of alternative destinations, and mobility plans. Operational definitions for each variable are provided in a later section. But first, hypothesized relationships among the five conceptual variables are discussed. As has been recognized repeatedly in the migration literature, past mobility 565 Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article-pdf/22/4/565/905021/565fuller.pdf by guest on 21 December 2021