Brotherly Conviviality: Care and Connection in the Digital Communities of Older Farang Men in Isaan

Older ‘farang’ men, meaning White men of European heritage, living in the Isaan region of northern Thailand have typically first departed their countries of origin in later life. Like many older lifestyle migrants, these men simultaneously experience both material privilege and social vulnerability (Ciobano et al. 2016; King et al. 2017). Online communities maintained through closed Facebook groups and public chat forums produce a sense of ‘digital togetherness’ (Marino 2015) for men who experience varying degrees of spatial, social, and linguistic isolation in their daily lives. Like migrant online spaces observed in other contexts, these communities become critical sites of care exchange where group members may provide and receive practical care, such as advice about visas, property maintenance or local health services, and emotional care, particularly through posting and commenting on pictures of their homes and villages, wives and girlfriends, and (step)children or grandchildren. Although most people participating in these online communities never meet, some exchanges through social media reflect or lead to offline relationships conducted in shared spaces of farang leisure and consumption. Findings from a qualitative study involving interviews with online group members and online group admins illustrate the important role of digital communities to the home-making practices and successful ageing narratives of older farang men living in northern Thailand.