Thomas Nachtigal
Student Assistant
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg | Department of Sociology and Human Geography | Division of Sociology
Rudolfskai 42, A-5020 Salzburg
Thomas Nachtigal joined the Division of Sociology and Social Geography as a research assistant, tutor and project staff member in October 2026.
Inspired by insights from the department’s research focus on the sociology of tourism and migration and the current debates in social and sociological theory, his journey towards obtaining his Bachelor’s degree at our institute took him to South-East Asia and resulted in the publication of the same name: “Succeeded World-Relations in Transnational Realities? A Resonance Theory Analysis of Western Lifestyle Migration to Ko Lanta, Thailand”.
Thailand should not let him go, because as part of a seven-member research team working on the project: Revitalising the Exhausted Self: A Comparative Study of the Motivations Behind Spiritual Tourism and the Effects of Spiritual Energy Renewal Practices in the East and West, he set off for the island of Ko Phangan in February 2026. He is currently analysing the forms of holistic-postmodern spirituality he encountered there – which were the subject of qualitative research – in his master’s thesis: ‘The Enchanted World of the Crystal Island’ (working title).
Furthermore, Thomas Nachtigal was focusing intensively on quantitative methods, empirical social research and survey research as part of his studies at the Department of Sociology in Salzburg. This also indirectly led to professional work as an interviewer at ÖPIA (ÖIHS—Study on the Very Elderly) and IFES (Institute for Empirical Social Research). In the field of quantitative research, he also works as a project staff member on the integration milieus of migrants in Austria.Prior to that – inspired, among other things, by his first early encounters with sociology in Salzburg – he explored social crises artistically as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist with the band Been Obscene, which resulted in two studio albums, a live album, and numerous tours and concerts across Europe and the USA.
Research interests:
- Empirical social research (quantitative, qualitative)
- Social and societal theory
- Sociology of migration and tourism
- Sociology of religion and culture
