Elucidating the perceived success of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Thailand

Abstract

The current literature lacks an in-depth understanding of the new cohort of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Thailand. This new cohort group belongs neither to the first generation of Chinese immigrants nor to later generations of Chinese-Thai. This study, therefore, aimed to explain the definition of the perceived success of this new cohort of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs and its antecedents. The qualitative semi-structured interviews were employed in the Chinese language with 15 Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs. This study found the perceived success summarises not only the material phases of money, business existence and growth but an aspiration to fulfil the personal objective and contribute to the greater good, which both reinforces and extends to the body of the existing literature. Besides, this study also provides entrepreneurs with practical suggestions by elaborating on how to achieve success based on five contributing factors: entrepreneurial mindset, ethnic community, human capital, financial capital, and customer relationship.