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Chinese Migrant Traders in Pakse, Champasak Province, Laos: Trajectories and Business Future

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Abstract

This chapter discusses China’s rising influence in Laos, looking through the presence of Chinese petty traders in Pakse, Champasak Province. The chapter illustrates business trajectories of new Chinese migrant traders as well as the nature of their business operations. It records three different channels that migrants use to start businesses: employing networks of pioneer migrant traders, being a shop assistant to accumulate business capital and networks, and traveling to explore business information and opportunities. The role of migrants’ interpersonal networks and family labor is highlighted as key characteristics of Chinese migrants’ business operations. The chapter goes on to discuss concerns over the future of local business after the arrival of new migrant traders, and explores tensions between the new migrants and the locals. The chapter also discusses concerns raised by Chinese migrant traders on their business future, particularly when Laos and China become more connected via the Laos-China railway.

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Lists of Interviewees

  • New Chinese Migrants

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  • AM (an owner of a mobile phone shop, a Chinese restaurant, and a stone mining company). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 25, 2015.

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  • CF (an owner of an agricultural equipment shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 3, 2015.

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  • CL (an owner of a Chinese restaurant and a volunteer at the Hunan Chamber of Commerce). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, May 25, 2015.

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  • DF (an owner of home and electrical appliances store). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 3, 2016.

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  • DM (an owner of a toy and mobile phone shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 3, 2015.

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  • EF (an owner of motorbike shops). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 2, 2015.

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  • FM (an owner of a motorbike spare parts shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 3, 2015.

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  • GF (an owner of a clothes and blanket shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 4, 2015.

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  • HM (an owner of a hardware and agricultural tools shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, July 19, 2015.

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  • IM (an owner of a home appliances and audio equipment store). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 4, 2016.

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  • JF (an owner of a clothes and mobile phone shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 3, 2015.

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  • JM (an owner of a motorbike spare parts store). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 3, 2015.

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  • KF (an owner of a Chinese grocery shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 3, 2016.

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  • KM (an owner of a motorbike spare parts shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 3, 2015.

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  • MB (an owner of a hardware shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 27, 2015.

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  • MN (an owner of a hardware shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 5, 2016.

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  • NM (an owner of a motorbike spare parts shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 5, 2016.

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  • PF (an owner of a hardware shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 4, 2016.

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  • PM (an owner of a hardware shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 4, 2016.

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  • PS (a hardware shop’s employee). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 6, 2016.

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  • VM (an owner of a motorbike spare parts shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 5, 2016.

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  • XM (a mobile phone distributor). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 6, 2016.

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  • YF (an owner of a hardware shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 6, 2016.

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Oversea Chinese

  • GM (an owner of a hotel, a motorbike spare parts store, and a construction material store). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, April 26, 2015.

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  • GS (an owner of gold stores and the Pakse Chinese Association’s committee). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, March 21, 2015.

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  • KS (an owner of gold shops). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, March 8, 2015.

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  • ZY (an owner of a construction company and the Pakse Chinese Association’s committee). Interview by author, March 21, 2015.

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Local Lao

  • JK (a Lao businesswoman who runs a grocery shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, March 7, 2015.

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  • SY (a Lao businessman who owns a motorbike shop). Interview by author. Pakse Laos, October 6, 2015.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Thammasat University (Lampang Campus), Lampang, Thailand

    Wasana La-orngplew

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  1. Wasana La-orngplew
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Yos Santasombat

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La-orngplew, W. (2019). Chinese Migrant Traders in Pakse, Champasak Province, Laos: Trajectories and Business Future. In: Santasombat, Y. (eds) The Sociology of Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0065-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0065-3_11

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0064-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0065-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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