派外人員即代表母公司至海外子公司工作的外藉員工，而派外人員壓力的產生不僅影響到公司，還會影響到個人生活領域。因此本研究欲探討，使派外人員產生工作壓力的個人要素，並以在泰國工作者為研究對象，藉此幫助多國籍公司降低派外人員的工作壓力及管理層面等問題。
問卷發放予120位受訪者，有效問卷為105份。研究結果發現在工作壓力的 產生上，性別之差異並無顯著不同；婚姻狀況以離婚者較已婚及單身族群，產生的壓力較大； 年紀大的族群對壓力因子考量較多； 而員工與管理階層相比較，壓力因子在管理階層產生較大影響。「缺乏訓練」及「獎賞制度」是受訪者最關心的主要部分。 因此，支援及培訓計劃是所有派外人員最期待母公司能提供的部分；為了有效降低派外人員的工作壓力，公司可提供行程前後說明會，語言培訓計劃，並且提供完善的設備給予派外人員，以符合員工在海外任職之需求。

Expatriates are the representative of parent companies in overseas subsidiaries. Expatriates’ stress would impact to both company and their personal life. To help multinational companies decrease work stress of expatriates and manage work stress problem, the objective of this research is to find personal characteristic factors affecting work stress of overseas expatriates in Thailand. The questionnaires were distributed to 120 respondents, valid samples are 105 persons. The finding shows that there is no significantly different in work stress between male and female expatriates, divorced respondents have work stress more than single and married group, elder expatriates more concern with stressors than younger expatriates, and stressor caused stressful to managers more than officers. “Lack of training” and “reward and compensation” are stressors respondents most concern. Therefore, supporting and training program are the things that expatriates expect from parent company. To decrease expatriates’ work stress, company should provide pre and post departure program, language training program, and prepare suitable facilities to fit expatriates needs during their overseas assignments.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research background 1
1.2 Research Objective and Question 3
1.3 Research Procedure 4
1.4 Research Contribution 5
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Work stress 6
2.1.1. Definition of Stress 6
2.1.2 Definition of Work stress… 9
2.1.3 Definition of Work stressor 9
2.2 Overseas expatriates 10
2.2.1 Expatriates’ Work stress 10
Expatriates in Thailand 15
Thailand 16
Stress in Thailand 17
2.2.2Organizational stressor 17
2.2.3 Personal stressor 20
2.2.4 Contextual stressor 21
2.3 Hypothesis development 23
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHOD
3.1 Research Framework 31
3.2 Research Construct 32
3.2.1 Expatriates’ Characteristics 32
3.2.2 Work stress factors .32
3.3 Hypotheses to be tested 34
3.4 Questionnaire Development 34
3.5 Data Analysis Procedure 35
3.5.1 Descriptive Statistic Analysis 35
3.5.2 Independent T-Test 35
3.5.3 Hypotheses Testing 35
3.6 Data Collection 36
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH RESULT
4.1 Descriptive Statistics 37
4.2 Stressors and Work Stress 39
4.3 Gender variance 41
4.3.1 Gender and organizational 41
4.3.2 Gender and personal stressor 43
4.3.3 Gender and contextual stressor 43
4.4 Analysis of different personal characteristic of expatriates 44
4.4.1 Marital status and work stressor 44
4.4.2 Age variable and work stressor 46
4.4.3 Work position variable and work stressor 48
4.4.4 Personal income variable and work stressor 50
4.4.5 Work field variable and work stressor 53
4.4.6 Duration of work in Thailand variable and work stressor 55
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Research conclusions 58
5.2 Recommendations 64
5.3 Limitations 65
5.4 Suggestion for further research 66
APPENDIX

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