Thai women entrepreneurs in Sweden: Critical perspectives on migrant small businesses

Thai migrant women are an important and visible part of the small business community in Sweden, most notably through restaurants, massage spas and small shops. In this paper we explore the overlap between migration and entrepreneurship and position ourselves within the feminist entrepreneurial framework. We ask: which Thai women become entrepreneurs? How does being migrant women shape their entrepreneurial activities and practices? Our paper employs a mixed-method design to explore Thai migrant businesses, giving a detailed overview of which women become entrepreneurs based on register data, and providing space for the narratives of women. We find a gendered approach to understanding the business activities of Thai women business practitioners does challenge normative perspectives on entrepreneurship. We show that family structure, migration length, education and partner's labor market status all play important roles. Furthermore, we find that small businesses are sites of negotiation and contestation.