ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the process of citizenship acquisition by Thai women in Belgium: their meeting with their Belgian partner, their marriage and migration, and finally their access to their partners' nationality. It shows that union formations have different logics and follow a series of steps towards marital citizenship. The literature on cross-border marriage focuses on either 'ethnic homogamous marriages' or 'ethnic heterogamous unions'. The chapter examines to unveil the subjectivity and agency of Thai women. In Belgium, Thai women migrate primarily through marriage and family reunification. Thai women migrants have become more and more educated since the 1990s, which can be attributed to their quest for professional and economic opportunities. Thai women's migration to Belgium is part of the larger Thai marriage migration phenomenon resulting from the rise of Thailand's tourism industry. According to Sunanta, this industry shifted from emphasizing the 'exotically erotic' character of the country from the 1960s to 1980s to accentuating health and well-being since the 1990s.
