Germans Abroad
The article draws on this author’s research on German expats in Hong Kong and Thailand. Both locales, Hong Kong and Thailand, are part of a wider geopolitical unit known as the Asia-Pacific which has evolved to become one of the world’s currently most-attractive regions because of its increasing economic importance. It holds enormous market potential for German companies. At the same time, the region attracts so-called lifestyle migrants who settle there in the hope of a better quality of life. It is thus not surprising that the number of Germans moving to this region has almost quadrupled over the last two decades—from some 4,000 in 1990 to nearly 16,000 in 2010.
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Notes on the research method
The processed data regarding German expats in Hong Kong and Thailand underlying most of this policy brief’s discussion was generated by this author’s own fieldwork research in the respective locales - conducted throughout 2010 - and later merged into his dissertation for the degree of doctor, which was awarded to him in 2012. Specifically, the fieldwork research combined a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods and generated information based on a total of 227 survey questionnaires and 66 individual interviews with both expats as well as experts and representatives of relevant state and non-state organizations.
