ThaiNGO

Job offer: Research assistant, Thai-English translator within the TRANS|RE Subproject “Resilience to environmental risks under the influence of translocal linkages. A case study on internal migration in Thailand”

Location(s): Bangkok Metropolitan Region, incl. occasional field trips to provinces in North and Northeast Thailand (Burirum, Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Udon Thani, amongst others)

Duration: 1 July – 31 August 2016

Background:
Within the scope of a research project on environmental change and human mobility in Thailand (TransRe), an assistant for empirical data collection in the outskirts of Bangkok (BMR) and in rural provinces, as well as for data analysis is required. The research project is affiliated to the Department of Geography at Bonn University, Germany. For more information on this research project, please check our homepage: www.transre.org or our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TransReProject

Objectives:
The sub-project – entitled “Resilience to environmental risks under the influence of translocal linkages. A case study on internal migration in Thailand” – seeks to better understand the impacts of people’s mobility on the social resilience to environment-related risks in North and Northeast Thailand. We analyze what makes people move out from their places of origin and how they maintain connections to their families at home. Modes of dealing with climate impacts might be influenced by connections between people working outside of their villages of origin and their families back home. Maintaining social ties at a distance is an active process which is why we examine everyday lives of people who have moved to Bangkok for to work and live there. A suburban area in the vicinity of Bangkok will serve as a starting point. Migration trajectories will then be traced back to migrants’ places of origin within Thailand in order to understand the impacts of such movements. The aim is to understand patterns of internal migration, in particular circumstances of rural migrants’ lives in urban areas in Bangkok and its outskirts. As this research draws on qualitative, non-standardized interviews with migrants and their families in Thai language, we are looking for an assistant with proficiency in Thai and English language for conducting and transcribing interviews.

Tasks:
» Translation and interpreting (English-Thai, Thai-English) during interviews for research purposes, as well as for preparing and analyzing such interviews
» Transcription of interviews
» Support to the research associate who will be responsible for the study, during the collection and analysis of empirical data

Requirements:
» Proficiency in Thai and English language: both written and oral
» Experience in quantitative and/or qualitative data collection, such as conducting interviews
» MS Office
» Experience in interview transcription
» Willingness to work both in Bangkok/surrounding provinces and occasionally in villages in rural parts of N and NE Thailand, as research will be carried out at different places.

We especially encourage applications by students and young professionals who are interested in working with an international project at the interface of science and practice.

How to apply: An application letter as well as the most recent CV in English language stating your qualifications and
experience should be submitted to: lporst@uni-bonn.de or porstluise@gmail.com

Closing date: 22/06/2016

All applications will be treated confidentially and not returned. All applicants will be considered on the basis of merit without
regard to race, national origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status or physical or mental disability.