International retirement migration (IRM) and its related fields of expatriate residency (expats), residential tourism, long-term tourism and international second homes are rapidly growing and changing. From its early modern beginnings when Northern Europeans moved to Spanish beaches in the 1950’s, geographic distribution has now expanded to include Mexico and the emerging IRM markets of Central and South America as well as Southeast Asia. A combination of many factors will contribute to the growth of IRM in the future with retiring baby boomers being the primary reason. Though the vast majority are of persons older, IRM is a misnomer for this topic as non-retired younger generations are also moving to these destinations, as they are increasingly able to work from virtually anywhere, due to the Internet economy and other trends associated with ever-increasing globalization. IRM in Udon Thani, Thailand consists almost exclusively of retired Western men marrying local women who are almost always much younger. Almost all the men first spend time in the sex tourism haven of Pattaya, Thailand before moving to the interior Northeastern city of Udon Thani at or near where their wives are from. Thus, there are many linkages and commonalities between the expatriate residents in Pattaya and Udon Thani. Without proper planning, Udon Thani will continue to adopt many of the undesirable attributes of Pattaya such as beer bars and sex tourism which are already present and growing rapidly. This practicum focuses on IRM and expats in the city of Udon Thani, Thailand and examines impacts on the host community. The practicum also tries to develop general models of IRM in different communities in developing nations and recommend planning guidelines to help deal with this phenomenon. The research methods employed included: a review of the literature, key informant interviews, informal exploratory interviews with locals and the IRM population as well as observations. Outside of planning research conducted in Spain, no IRM or expatriate research has examined planning issues in detail. This practicum attempts to establish or contribute to a body of work to aide in future work on this topic. The primary planning issues in Udon Thani were found to be: sprawling residential growth, economic development, gender issues and integration of IRM and expat populations into the local communities. IRM shares many commonalities in all its global locations. However, planning for IRM in Udon Thani and possibly other Southeast Asian communities is unique due to the homogenous makeup of male retirees who bring with them a host of Western cultural values and problems related to bars and sex tourism. It has been found that planning for IRM shares commonalities with planning for amenity migration in North American mountain communities. There are many types of IRM communities. For example, beach communities may have a population that is more seasonal and has less attachment to host communities, while interior cities such as San Miguel and Lake Chapala, Mexico as well as Udon Thani may have more permanent year-round populations. Planning issues surrounding care-giving and marriage are also examined as medical care will be a future catalyst for many of these communities.

Möjligheter till att resa och förflytta sig mellan nationella gränser i världen blir allt fler. Svenskar som köper bostad i Costa del Sol söker efter ett varmare klimat, billigare levnadskostnader och spenderar upp till flera månader åt gången i Spanien. Tidigare forskning visar att problematik kopplad till uppfattning av sin egen identitet förekommer när individer kontinuerligt reser mellan hem i olika länder, vilket delvis också är beroende av det bemötande man får som svensk utomlands. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka hur svenskars identitet påverkas av att äga en bostad i Spanien. Genom intervjuer med åtta seniorer undersöktes fenomenet identitet, kopplat till att äga bostad utomlands. Det empiriska materialet analyserades med hjälp av tematisk analys och jämfördes med tidigare forskning. Social identitetsteori och platsidentitet är två viktiga faktorer och teorier inom denna undersökning. De verkar som centrala utgångspunkter vid diskussion, inom studier av människors upplevda identitet. Resultaten för denna studie visar att svenskar generellt inte identifierar sig som lokalbor i Costa del Sol. Samtidigt känner flera en stark platstillhörighet och anser sin bostad i Spanien vara lika mycket “hemma” som den bostad de äger i Sverige. Samtliga respondenter uppger att de främst bemöts av vänlighet från lokalbor i Spanien, men nämner även tillfällen där de upplevt en viss främlingsfientlighet mot internationella fritidshusägare i Spanien som grupp. För vidare forskning föreslår författarna en undersökning med yngre generations fritidshusägare i Spanien, men även en djupare kvalitativ studie av sambandet mellan platstillhörighet och känslan av att känna sig hemma, bland svenska bostadsägare utomlands. Vidare föreslås studier av andra destinationer i Spanien samt hur juridiska faktorer påverkar val av Spanien som land för att köpa fritidsbostad. / Opportunities to travel and move between the national borders in the world are increasing. Swedes who buy second-homes in Costa del Sol are looking for a better climate, cheaper living costs and spend up to several months at a time in Spain. Previous research shows that problems linked to defining one’s own identity occur when individuals continuously travel between homes in different countries, which is also partly dependent on the treatment that they receive as Swedes abroad. This study aims to investigate how Swedish individuals’ identity is affected by owning a second-home in Spain. Through interviews with eight seniors, the phenomenon of identity, linked to owning a home abroad, was investigated. The empirical material was analyzed using thematic analysis and compared with previous research. Social identity theory and place identity are two important factors and theories that are used in this study. They stand as crucial premises when discussing the studies of people's perceived identity. The results of this study show that Swedes generally do not identify themselves as locals in Costa del Sol. Simultaneously, many feel a strong sense of belonging and consider their home in Spain to be as much "at home" as the home they reside in Sweden. As for perception by the local inhabitants, all respondents state that they are mainly met with kindness, although a few occasions are mentioned when they have experienced particular xenophobia against international second-home owners in Spain as a community. For further research, the authors propose a study of younger generation second-home owners, as well as a deeper qualitative study of the connection between place affiliation and the feeling of “feeling at home” among Swedish homeowners abroad. Furthermore, studies of other destinations in Spain would be of interest, together with jurisprudence in Spain as a factor for choosing Spain as a second-home country.