The exporting of education has become an integral part of the Australian economy and is now Australia's third largest export industry valued at over A$3.2 billion. The
impact that these large flows of students into the Australian economy (for significant periods at a time) is having on Australia's bilateral trade relationships with these source countries, is now a pertinent issue. As the literature on immigration flows has identified, social network theory is an important tool in explaining how cross border flows of people can stimulate international trade activity. What impact are overseas students' social networks playing in stimulating trade activity between Australia and
their home countries? This research on the economic impact of Thai overseas students on Australia/Thailand bilateral trade flows is a timely study undertaken to answer such
questions.