A qualitative analysis of the repatriation of Thai-Indian Third Culture Kids in Thailand

Abstract

The term Third Culture Kids refers to a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The number of Third Culture Kids is rapidly increasing and with that, so too are the social adjustment problems they face when repatriated. This qualitative research focuses on identifying and examining different social adjustment barriers that Third Culture Kids face when repatriated to their home culture due to their experiences and time spent abroad. This article aims to generate discourse and understanding of social adjustment problems that Third Culture Kids encounter. The authors intend to introduce an additional perspective to the proposed topic within the Thai context of Thai-Indian participants returning to Thailand after studying abroad. This exploration of the social adjustment of Thai-Indian participants identified five themes (1) Identity, (2) Sense of belonging, (3) Freedom, (4) Readjustment to Thai culture, (5) Intellectual Discouragement.