Hmong cultural survival in the northern Thailand: Flower as cash cropping for survival
Author(s):
Lo, Lee
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : California Institute of Integral Studies, 2007.
Pages:
382
Language:
English
Abstract:
This dissertation research project explores the cultural survival of the Thai-Hmong in Thailand. As a stateless people, the Hmong immigrated to Thailand from neighboring countries at different times for different reasons. Each of these particular groups is currently faced with varying social, political, and economic problems, along with certain shared concerns. For example, the agricultural practices of the Thai-Hmong are held at fault for the deforestation of the Thai nation, which has entailed state refusal of land rights to the Thai-Hmong or permission to conduct subsistence agriculture. Many of the Thai-Hmong villages have been forcibly evicted to lowland areas or confined in national parks, forest conservation areas, and wildlife sanctuaries, with few rights. In encountering either eviction or confinement, the Thai-Hmong have experienced severe and engendered violence, including trafficking of drugs and imprisonment of men on falsified charges. Meanwhile, the new Hmong refugees are struggling for Thai citizenship and are faced with internal and external oppressions and violence. Among the Hmong, complex histories in politics and society further generate a thorny relationship between the so-called "Old-Hmong" and "New-Hmong" in Thailand. My dissertation research was conducted in collaboration with the Thai-Hmong and a few visits on Hmong refugee communities, NGOs, and the Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University. This participatory research draws upon Thai and Hmong histories, policy analysis, and sustained ethnographic research within Hmong communities and with Thai activists, as well as consultations with scholars and policy makers, to construct a critical understanding of the relations and priorities of the various stakeholders in this struggle.