ARI Working Paper Series

Migration studies almost always tend to emphasize economic factors as the overriding motivation for leaving and are always couched in terms of searching for better sources of livelihood. Where studies have shifted to the emotional sphere, these usually focus on the destruction of the intimate relations particularly among those who have been left behind by the migrating worker. Among Filipino workers, particularly female Filipino domestic workers who service households in foreign countries, their departure often results in an “emotional deficit” back home. Parents, spouses and children are bereft of emotional care while the new employers benefit from the service of Filipino domestic workers and care givers.

The study focuses on the re-construction of intimacies in a context of migration, especially among women who have had to contend with regulatory migration regimes that prohibit them from entering into emotional liaisons with the locals. In other less regulated situations, the reconstruction of an intimate life is more possible, and there are various options that are open to women to experience a relatively more enriched emotional life that is mainly of their own choosing. These two contrasting situations are the subject of this paper, highlighting the contrasts between Filipino domestic workers in Singapore and Thailand. A highly regulated regime in Singapore prohibits Filipino (and other) temporary domestic workers from entering into emotional relationships with Singaporeans. In contrast, a highly unregulated labor market in Thailand offers far more emotional options for Filipino domestic workers. Through continuous two-week visa reissuance by immigration authorities, Filipino workers can stay indefinitely and build their intimate lives around situations of entry and exits across Thailand’s borders. In both countries, however, marriage as a migration strategy is a closed option.