Share

Thailand

Stranded

To be born and raised and, in time, to die on the sea; to live out one’s seamless days together with one’s family, wandering the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea in a hand-built boat and feeling suffocated by contact with land or civilization—this is the heritage of the Moken. It is an easily romanticized way of life that has captivated the land-locked souls of the Western world since the Moken were introduced to us by anthropologist Pierre Ivanoff in 1957.

A Home Away from Home

Maintaining cultural identity is hard enough for indigenous peoples in countries that are politically stable, but the problems are vastly more difficult when war and persecution push indigenous people into refugee camps across a border. Few indigenous people have had as much experience with those challenges as the Karen.

National Parks: Indigenous Resource Management Principles in Protected Areas and Indigenous Peoples of Asia

In many parts of Asia, parks—including sanctuaries, totally protected areas, and heritage sites—are found within indigenous peoples’ traditional territories. In some cases, indigenous peoples have been removed from parks, while others remain within park boundaries or at the peripheries.

Pa-O "Relocated" to Thailand: Views from Within

The Pa-O are one of the ethnic minorities of Burma. They live primarily in the Taunggyi area of southwestern Shan State. A smaller number live in the Thaton area of Mon State in Lower Burma. The Pa-O in the Thaton area have become "Burmanized" -- like their neighbors the Mon and Karen, they have adopted Burmese language, dress and customs. The Pa-O in southwestern Shan State have learned to speak Shan, but have maintained their own distinct language and customs, including their traditional dark blue or black dress.

Evicted & Excluded: The Struggle for Citizenship and Land Rights by Tribal People in Northern Thailand

Upland minority people in Thailand -- the `hilltribes' -- have traditionally lived on the edges of Thai society. Despite the volume of information being collected about tribal people, the demographic characteristics of these various upland minority groups remain largely unknown because existing data are both inaccessible and inaccurate. While the nine hilltribes of upper northern Thailand are a diverse group, both ethnically and culturally, they share a common history of marginalization. 40 to 60 percent are denied citizenship rights even though they were born in Thailand.

Persecution of the Hmong in Nan

Nan province is in the upper north of Thailand on the border with Laos and is home to large populations of tribal peoples.

On June 19th of this year, lowland ethnic Thai from Chiang Klang, together with Royal Forestry Department officers, local police, and Border Patrol Police, cut off access to a road leading into an orchard and farm area in Nan province. The blocked road is used by both lowland Thai and ethnic minorities (mostly Hmong) to access the orchards and forest; the roadblock prevented upland villagers from traveling into the lowlands (and vice versa).

Are there Indigenous Peoples in Asia?

At the heart of the worldwide indigenous movement is a serious and complex problem of labeling. A casual review of publications addressing indigenous issues reveals that native and non-native advocates of the `indigenous' cause define `indigenous' in widely varying ways. These definitions and overarching theories include:

-- `Indigenous' Peoples are the original stewards of the environment, holding the land of their ancestors in trust for future generations.

Saipan Sweatshops Challenged

Since the 1980s, an archipelago of islands in the Pacific Ocean known as the Northern Mariana Islands has served as an engine for the flourishing international garment industry. Retailers and manufacturers who produce clothing on Saipan (the Marianas' main island) have profited immensely with few constraints regarding issues of quota restrictions, duty taxation, and import tariffs. Additionally, manufacturers have relied on the steady importation of young female garment workers from China, Thailand, the Philippines and Bangladesh to produce their designer label garments.

Dams in the Mekong Region: Scoping Social and Cultural Issues

The standard social concern surrounding large dams and their associated reservoirs is the displacement and resettlement associated with these large infrastructure schemes. While such impacts remain of great concern, social and cultural issues associated with dams in the Mekong Region go well beyond questions of physical upheaval.

The Tourism Industry and Northern Thailand's Mountain Peoples: Research Project Focuses on Establishing Guidelines for Interacti

Over a 12-month period, the Thailand Chapter of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the world's largest travel organization, commissioned fact-finding missions with three main objectives: to ascertain the opinions of international experts concerning various collaborations between northern Thailand's cultural minorities and the tourism industry; to evaluate the current situation in northern Thailand regarding the mountain peoples' involvement in tourism-related activities; and to produce a booklet titled Guidelines for Interaction between the Tourism Industry and Northern Thailand's Moun

Syndicate content