Publication

Social Networks and the Resilient Livelihood Strategies of Dara-ang Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Ayuttacorn, A. (2019). “Social Networks and the Resilient Livelihood Strategies of Dara-ang Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand”, Geoforum, Volume 101, May 2019, pp. 28- 37. (online: http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/63760)6.

Abstract

This study examines Dara-ang women’s livelihood strategies as they struggle to negotiate environmental conservation policies. The Thai state adopts conservation ideology as a form of legitimation for its governance practices. As part of this, members of the Dara-ang ethnic minority group, who are migrants from Shan State, Myanmar, are both racialized and vilified for being supposed forest encroachers. When they are dispossessed of their agricultural land and forest products, some are forced to migrate to cities and become wage laborers. Based on ethnographic research, this study identifies and describes some of the capital assets and institutions that support women in strengthening their leadership roles. Dara-ang women form networks with domestic and international NGOs, academics, and businesspeople as a way to negotiate state control. They create alternative practices – namely organic farming, performance groups, and off-farm activities – as livelihood strategies to achieve sustainable use of natural resources and increased income, food security, and well-being.

Future Trajectories: Five Short Concluding Reflections

Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Khin Muang Lwin, Nang Shining, Pianporn Deetes. (2019). Future Trajectories: Five Short Concluding Reflections. In book Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River. Pp. 279- 303.

Abstract

The concluding chapter of this book titled “Future Trajectories” is comprised of reflections by five authors. The authors cover the past and present challenges of and work for the Salween River, and present their commentary on possible futures and future challenges.

A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research

Vanessa Lamb, Carl Middleton, Saw John Bright, Saw Tha Phoe, Naw Aye Aye Myaing, Nang Hom Kham, Sai Aum Khay, Nang Sam Paung Hom, Nan Aye Tin, Nang Shining,

Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue, Chayan Vaddhanaphuti. (2019). A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research. In book Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River. Pp. 107- 120.

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of civil society research on Salween, providing an overview of the existing knowledge of the basin and a start to identifying key knowledge gaps in support of more informed, inclusive, and accountable water governance in the basin.

Environmental Illness at Klity Creek (Thailand): A Karen Village’s Quest for Justice

Sitthikriengkrai, Malee. Nathan Porath. (2019) “Environmental Illness at Klity Creek (Thailand): A Karen Village’s Quest for Justice” in Behera, Maguni Charan (Ed.). Shifting Perspectives in Tribal Studies: From an Anthropological Approach to Interdisciplinarity and Consilience, Springer, Singapore. pp. 149 - 165. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811380891

Abstract

The paper problematises the context of tribal people’s struggle for environmental justice related to development model in a trajectory of community’s perception; government’s approach to development and attitude to industrial-induced health problems; and intervention of civil society. It describes community awareness and demand for health rights by the Karen people of Klity Creek in Thailand with the support of NGOs. Precisely, the paper reports suffering of the Karen people of Klity Creek from industrial lead pollution during the last two decades of the twentieth century and the protest the people have launched, with the help of NGOs, against the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) demanding that their illness be recognised as related to lead pollution. They also demanded chelation therapy which the MOPH was not willing to provide. With public support, they also took the Lead Company and the Department of Pollution Control to court. This paper discusses the events within the context of NGO support.

Disclosure of HIV Status among Shan Female Migrant Workers Living with HIV

Ayuttacorn, A.,Tangmunkongvorakul, A., Musumari, P. M., Srithanaviboonchai, K., Jirattikorn, A., & Aurpibul, L. (2019). PloS one,14(5), e0216382.pp. 1-17.

Disclosure of HIV status among Shan female migrant workers living with HIV in Northern Thailand: A qualitative study

This study highlighted the complex challenges of HIV status disclosure among HIV-positive Shan female migrant workers and the link between disclosure/non-disclosure and condom use. There is a pressing need to create realistic disclosure mechanisms that take into account the socio-cultural barriers to disclosure including marital conflicts, stigma, and gender norms. Messages to encourage condom use should be delivered carefully so that knowledge of the HIV transmission reduction qualities of good ART adherence does not serve as a barrier to condom use.

Becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand

Prasit Leepreecha. (2019) “Becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 50(1): 32-50.

Abstract

This article investigates the processes of becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand by tracing the transnational relationships and influences of global Indigenous movements on the creation of the Network and the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand (NIPT and CIPT). In addition, it examines the Indigenous Peoples’ movement toward both internal and external recognition. I argue that in Thailand the Indigenous Peoples movement stems from the global movement and exists in relation to international organisations. Within Thailand, the movement represents a deterritorialisation of the ethnoscape, with those now identified as Indigenous Peoples previously being identified as ‘tribal peoples’, ‘ethnic minorities’, or ‘Others’ who threatened national security. Indigenous Peoples are also self-identifying as native and marginalised peoples whose basic rights must be recognised and who advocate for equal treatment as citizens. Yet, the Indigenous Peoples’ movement in Thailand is developing through a process of ongoing negotiations with various internal and external sectors. As a Hmong anthropologist and long-time participant in the Indigenous movement in Thailand, in addition to secondary sources, I draw mainly on personal observations and interviews with key informants.

Trans-national Education System for Students from the Mekong Region Thai Universities

Thaklong, N., Leepreecha, Pl, Wittayapak, C., Mangkang, C. (2019) Trans-national Education System for Students from the Mekong Region Thai Universities. Asian Journal of University Education. 15(1). Pp. 2-19. 

The aim is of this research is to study issues of the trans-national education system of students from the Mekong region who are enrolled at Thai universities. Qualitative research was conducted to collect data from Bachelor's degree students who are studying at Thai universities. The research instruments were in the form of a questionnaire, which consisted of multiple choice and open-ended questions, based on the review of related literature on Trans-nationalism. The results demonstrated that students from the Mekong region who study at Thai universities use different sponsor to their study. Some students were granted a scholarship while others were self-supporting. However, all of them had the same aspiration: to apply the knowledge acquired in Thailand to benefit their country and the people around them after graduation. The problems faced by the students were related to language, culture, and food. Most of the students from Mekong region had to adjust themselves to the culture and the society they were living in. After their graduation, the students from the Mekong region expressed their concerned issues to the educational administrators in the Thai universities. The concerned issues are: international curriculums, student exchange programs and teaching materials should be more up-to-date and beneficial to the students.

Thai Television Dramas, a New Player in Asian Media Circulation: A Case Study of Full House Thai

“Thai Television Dramas, a New Player in Asian Media Circulation: A Case Study of Full House Thai” in Nobuko Kawashima and Hye-Kyung Lee (eds.). (2018) Asian Cultural

Flows: Cultural Policies, Creative Industries, and Media Consumers. Singapore: Springer, pp.167-182.

This paper examines the success of Full House Thai , a Thai remake of popular Korean drama “Full House”. First, it explores the indigenization of Korean elements in the Thai remake Full House , arguing that the success of Full House Thai lies not only on the attractiveness of Thai actor and actress but also on the Thai-ization of Korean elements. The second part looks at the reception of Asian audience towards Full House Thai . Taking the case of Vietnamese audience, the paper explores how Vietnamese audience interpret Thai remake version in relation to the original Korean version as well as with respect to Thai culture portrayed in the series. The aspects of Thai culture the paper asks Vietnamese audience to reflect upon include views on gender, roles of men and women, the portrayal of social class as well as romantic love. Data presented in this paper come from textual analysis as well as in-depth interviews with 15 Vietnamese audiences.

ชีวิตระหว่างการเคลื่อนย้ายของลูกเรือประมง

มาลี สิทธิเกรียงไกร. (2561) “ชีวิตระหว่างการเคลื่อนย้ายของลูกเรือประมง” ใน ชีวิตทางสังคมในการเคลื่อนย้าย, ประเสริฐ แรงกล้า (บก), หน้า 219-242, คณะสังคมวิทยาและมานุษยวิทยา

มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์

บทความนี้ให้ความสำคัญกับการอธิบายชีวิตลูกเรือประมงแต่ไม่ได้มอง ว่าพวกเขาเป็นแรงงานทาสหรือเหยื่อค้ามนุษย์ที่ยอมจำนนต่อการบังคับ ควบคุมของไต้ก๋งเรือเท่านั้น แต่พวกเขาพยายามดิ้นรนแสวงหาอิสรภาพ — 222 —มาลี สิทธิเกรียงไกร ออกจากขบวนการนี้ เมื่อได้หลุดรอดไปแล้ว ยังได้นำชุดประสบการณ์เดิม นี้ ไปใช้เพื่อช่วยเหลือผู้ที่ประสบปัญหาเช่นเดียวกับตนเอง โดยนำมิติด้าน เวลาและสถานที่มาอธิบายให้เห็นว่า การเคลื่อนย้ายของทุนในอุตสาหกรรม ประมงนั้นให้ความสำาคัญกับมิติด้านเวลาเพื่อให้การเคลื่อนย้ายของสิ่งของ และทุนดำเนินไปอย่างรวดเร็ว ลดต้นทุนค่าใช้จ่าย การเคลื่อนย้ายอย่าง รวดเร็วนี้บีบคั้นแรงงานจากลูกเรือประมง ทำให้ชีวิตลูกเรือประมงเสมือน เป็นเครื่องจักรทำงานอยู่ตลอดเวลา อย่างไรก็ตาม ลูกเรือประมงต่างก็ พยายามหนีออกจากการควบคุมของทุน บางคนสามารถหลบหลีกและนำประสบการณ์ตนเองไปใช้เพื่อประโยชน์คนอื่นต่อไป

การศึกษานี้ใช้วิธีการสัมภาษณ์เป็นรายกรณีและสนทนากลุ่ม อนึ่ง ด้วยข้อจำากัดของการเข้าถึงผู้ให้ข้อมูลและระยะเวลาการทำวิจัย ผู้เขียนจึงเลือกกลุ่มประชากรที่ศึกษาจากลูกเรือประมงที่ได้รับความช่วยเหลือจาก มูลนิธิเครือข่ายส่งเสริมคุณภาพชีวิตแรงงาน (Labor Rights Promotion Network: LPN) 3 กรณีคือ ทินกร พรชัย และเหยี่ยว

Dhamma Detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) Community. Merit-Making, Colon-Cleansing, and Excrement

Sitthikriengkrai, Malee. Nathan Porath. (2018). “Dhamma Detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) Community. Merit-Making, Colon-Cleansing, and Excrement” in Anthropos. 113.2018. pp. 453- 466.

In Thailand there is a Buddhist movement called Santi Asok. In recent years one of its lay communities has developed a five-day bodily detoxification course for the good of the Thai public as a form of merit making. Participants who refrain from eating food and drink other than the intake of herbal tonics, undergo various forms of detoxification procedure and particularly colon cleansing. The course culminates in the inspection of the participants' stools followed by a lavish vegetarian meal. This paper analyzes the detox course as a ritual of the body constructed within the anti-materialist and merit-making moral values of the Asok Buddhist community. In this ritual human excrement becomes a symbol revealing the unhealthy polluting demerits of modern consumer society. It concludes that "shit" is a powerful and even dangerous "natural symbol" to moralize with. [Thailand, Buddhism, Santi Asok, detoxification, complementary and alternative medicine].

Lead - polluted Water Changed our Lives’: A Thai-Karen Village’s Quest for Environmental Justice

Sitthikriengkrai, Malee. Nathan Porath. (2017) “Lead - polluted Water Changed our Lives’: A Thai-Karen Village’s Quest for Environmental Justice” in South East Asia Research, Vol 25(2), pp. 139 - 156, SOAS, University of London

Abstract

At the turn of the millennium, inhabitants of a small Karen village situated in one of Thailand’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites sought access to environmental justice in the Thai courts over industrial pollution that had contaminated their local stream with lead and caused them years of degraded health and social misery. The Karen villagers were only able to gain access to justice with the help of NGOs that served them as a support group during a period when Thailand was experiencing active civil and democratic awakening. The NGOs, which had a common cause with the Karen villagers, helped them enter the ‘environmental justice frame’ and its discourse. Their experience of lead pollution was framed within a moral ‘rhetoric of exposure’, which came to guide their activism against intransigent agencies and policies, as well as their mobilization for access to justice.

Forever Transnational

Forever transnational: The ambivalence of return and cross-border activities of the Shan across the Thailand-Myanmar border. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. pp.75-89.

Over the past two decades, northern Thailand has experienced a massive influx of Shan ethnic nationals from Myanmar migrating to escape economic hardship and political conflicts at home. Myanmar's recent reforms raise the question of whether these migrants will return. The paper brings together the context of current changes in Myanmar with migrants' prospects of return and the impact of large‐scale migration on homeland politics. On the one hand, the paper explores the possibility that Shan migrants could remain forever transnational, for many of them will most likely never return. On the other hand, it considers the perspective of Shan elites in Myanmar on the fact a large portion of young Shan now spend their adult lives living and working in Thailand. While out‐migration of young Shan threatens the social fabric of Shan community in Myanmar, Shan ethnonationalists strive across the Myanmar border to regain loyalty among the Shan migrant population in Thailand. By examining the two aspects, this paper attempts to shed light on the impact of transnational migration on both migrants and their home country.

Charismatic Monks of Lanna Buddhism

Porath, Nathan, Sitthikriengkrai, Malee (Reviewer) (2017), “Charismatic Monks of Lanna Buddhism”, in Paul Cohen, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 90, Part 2, No. 313, December 2017, Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 140-143 (Book review)

The book's focus on charisma is important, but it does not go far enough. It takes Weber's idea that charisma comes from the individual and combines this with the Buddhist cosmological notion of barami. But what is needed is a more in-depth and integrated sociological analysis of what constitutes the charismatic phenomena of these monks. Although Charismatic Monks does supply a great deal of evidence that could be used for such an analysis, the book's angle when discussing the devotees' side of the relationship focuses mainly on upland peoples. Although this is interesting in itself there is very little focus on other followers. For example, although some mention is made of Thai elites, we are not told very much about their actual relationship with the monks or about their importance to the movements. We are also told very little about these monks' relationship to kon muang (northern Thai people).

Khruba Bunchum: The Shift in a Millenarian Movement at the Thailand-Myanmar Border

“Buddhist Holy Man Khruba Bunchum: The Shift in a Millenarian Movement at the Thailand-Myanmar Border” Sojourn. 31(2): pp. 377-412

The study of holy men active in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar between the seventeenth and the twentieth centuries has associated them primarily with millenarian movements. In the twenty-first century, Thailand–Myanmar border has seen the emergence of a holy man to whom the concept of millenarianism is, in the current changing religious environment, not applicable. Khruba Bunchum, a contemporary Thai with a significant ethnic minority following in Myanmar, rose to fame in Thailand after being forced to leave Myanmar and spending three years meditating in an isolated cave. He has gained followers among wealthy and middle-class Thais. His case illustrates the effect of mobile media technology in transforming the practice of venerating holy men. It suggests the need for a new approach to studying religious movements, one that draws on religious, political and media sources.

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Myanmar’s Long Road to Federalism: The Case of Shan State

In reviewing the ongoing peace negotiation and the positions different Shan organizations have taken, we see that Myanmar’s peace process has a long way to go. Its major obstacles include concerns over trust, confusion over process, continued fighting in Shan State, and lack of ethnic unity.

But three years of peace talks have yielded success in that the negotiation strategy of both sides has become more sophisticated. We also see a willingness to compromise, as in how the government has recognized that the future of Myanmar is tied to a federal union. As for the Shan, two questions remain. Can the Shan unite in order to achieve the self-determination they have been fighting for over half a century? And how will the voices and interests of other ethnic groups living in Shan State be represented in this ethnically-defined state?