Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Summary
1 Overview
1.1 Historical background
1.2 Politics
1.3 Culture
1.4 Geography, society, and economy
4 Other resources
4.1 Thai newspapers
4.2 Other electronic resources
4.3 Non-electronic resources and bibliography
Maps
UNHCR Global Report 2001: map of Thailand
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendoc.pdf?tbl=PUBL&id=3dee2cdc0&page=publ
Asia Source
http://www.asiasource.org/profiles/ap_mp_03.cfm?countryid=14
Summary
Forced migration in Thailand largely takes the form of foreign refugees seeking sanctuary in
Thailand after fleeing conflict in its turbulent, neighbouring nations, primarily Cambodia, Laos,
and Burma, but also as far afield as Vietnam and China, along with a smaller number from
Malaysia.
Modern forced migration to Thailand began as early as the 1700s with Vietnamese fleeing
religious repression, and later, French colonialism. The post-war era saw a sharp increase in
refugee arrivals, not only in number, but also in diversity of source nations. This was a response
to the dramatic political changes experienced throughout the region, due to the often-violent
death of European colonialism in the wake of World War II.
The end of the wars in Indochina in the mid 1970s brought the next dramatic increase in refugee
arrivals and with it the attention of the world. The international response to the Indochinese
refugee crisis in the late 1970s and early 1980s was massive; however, Thailand had to bear the
vast majority of the refugee burden and was still left with a significant refugee problem when
international interest began to die down later in the 1980s. This was the first time Thailand
received international assistance for refugees, having previously dealt with the problem itself.
From 1989, UNHCR acted as a facilitator once the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) for
Indochinese refugees was introduced. Vietnamese refugees were the focus of the CPA, and
‘pushbacks’ of Vietnamese were no longer reported following this commitment.
Burmese refugees had been coming to Thailand since shortly after World War II. The Burmese
arrival rate rose sharply during the 1980s and 1990s as a result of a crackdown on urban, pro-
democracy supporters, as well as several government offensives against sundry ethnic minorities
along the Thai border who opposed the government in various wars for self-determination. The
Burmese refugee issue is currently the largest in Thailand. Over 100,000 refugees are living in
border camps, with many more living in the Thai community. According to UNHCR, refugees
along the Thai–Burma are recognized on a ‘prima facie’ basis in the absence of a Refugee Status
Determination procedure in Thailand. A blurring between refugees and migrant workers
complicates issues of refugee protection and resettlement. This is exacerbated by the very small
role currently played by UNHCR relative to that which it fulfilled during the refugee crisis in the
late 1970s. The repatriation of some 10,000 Mon refugees in 1996 was carried out without
international criteria being met, and no UNHCR monitoring arrangements on the Burmese side
of the border.
Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees or to its 1967
Protocol, but it has been a member of the UNHCR Executive Committee for the past twenty
years. Since the post-war era Thailand has taken the stance that it was willing to provide
temporary humanitarian sanctuary, but it was not willing to absorb large numbers of refugees by
resettling them into the Thai community. The vast number of refugee arrivals has raised security
concerns, something that has since featured in refugee policy-making.
Websites:
CIA World Factbook 2002: Thailand
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html
1 Overview
1.1 Historical background
The earliest recorded inhabitants of the area now known as Thailand were the Mon, who formed
the Dvaravati Kingdom in the Chao Phya basin from the sixth to the eleventh centuries. From the
eighth to the twelfth century, the area was encroached upon by the powerful Hindu kingdom of
Angkor that expanded westward from what is modern-day Cambodia.
The Thai people are believed to have migrated from southern China in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, settling among the established Mon and Khmers. As the kingdom of Angkor declined
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Thais were able to shake off Cambodian rule and
establish the first Thai kingdom at Sukothai. The Sukothai period lasted less than 200 years,
from 1220 to 1378. Under King Ramkamheng (1278–1318), who is considered the father of
Thailand, the kingdom fused Mon and Khmer traditions with their own, creating a unique style
of architecture, art, and politics. Sukothai’s military and economic might ruled an empire from
Laos to Malaysia.
Sukothai’s decline coincided with the rise of the Thai kingdom of Ayuthaya, with Sukothai
eventually becoming a vassal state of Ayuthaya. The Ayuthaya period, which began in the
middle of the fourteenth century, is considered to be Thailand’s golden age. Not only was the
kingdom militarily and economically powerful, but it also had significant artistic and
architectural achievements. This period came to an end when the Burmese attacked the kingdom
and brutally sacked Ayuthaya towards the end of the eighteenth century. The actions of the
Burmese that caused the end of the Golden Era are still remembered today.
A half-Chinese soldier by the name of Taksin fought back the Burmese and established a new
capital at Thonburi on the Chao Phya River. King Taksin was executed after he became insane,
and was replaced by his general Chakri, who was proclaimed King Rama I, forming the modern-
day Chakri Dynasty. Rama I moved the capital across the river to the site of present-day
Bangkok and named the city with a sixty-syllable Sanskrit title that is abbreviated to Krungthep.
Thailand's modernization began under the rule of King Mongkut (Rama IV). King Mongkut was
an enlightened leader who saw that Thailand would have to implement Western-style reforms to
ensure its political independence. In line with this way of thinking, he employed several
Westerners as consultants, teachers, and technicians. His reforms were continued under the rule
of his son, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), the most revered of all past kings. He is credited with
transforming Thailand from a medieval kingdom to a modern, progressive nation and
maintaining Thailand’s sovereignty despite British and French ambitions. In fact, Thailand was
the only country in Southeast Asia never to be colonized by a European power – a source of
great pride for the Thai people.
The absolute monarchy came to an end in 1932, when a bloodless coup was lead by European
educated intellectuals with the support of the military. A constitutional monarchy was
proclaimed, with an army general as the head of the government. The Thai government declared
war on the Allies after being invaded by the Japanese in World War II. The post-war period has
been politically turbulent, characterized by many military coups and rapid changes in coalition
governments.
Websites:
CIA World Factbook 2002: Thailand
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html
1.2 Politics
Thailand is a constitutional monarchy. The absolute monarchy ended with a coup in 1932, but
the King remains the chief of state and retains a Privy Council. The head of government is the
Prime Minister, who appoints the Cabinet. The National Assembly consists of the Senate
(Wuthisapha) and the House of Representatives (Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon). The houses consist
of 200 and 500 seats, respectively.
Elections are held every four years, and the members of both houses are elected by the people.
The main political parties are the Democratic Party or DP (Prachathipat Party); National
Development Party or NDP (Chat Phattana); Thai Nation Party or TNP (Chat Thai Party); and
Thai Rak Thai Party or TRT.
Traditionally, the military has played a strong role in Thai politics, culminating in many coups
since 1932. In 1973 there was a Thai student uprising now known as ‘October 14’. Since a
bloody confrontation between the military and pro-democracy demonstrators in 1991, the
military has been playing an increasingly professional role.
Websites:
CIA World Factbook 2002: Thailand
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html
1.3 Culture
Thailand is a predominately Buddhist nation, with Buddhists making up 95 per cent of the
population. The other significant religion is Islam, which is mostly found in the south, with 3.8
per cent of the population.
Thailand is one of the more ethnically homogeneous nations in Southeast Asia. Approximately
80 per cent of the population is Thai. The next most significant ethnic group is the Chinese
(about 11 per cent), but extensive intermarriage between Thais and Chinese means that many
Thais, particularly in Bangkok, are of mixed decent. Other major groups are Malay, Mon,
Khmer, and Shan.
The official language, Thai, is spoken in four different dialects: Northern, Northeastern, Central,
and Southern. All dialects are mutually intelligible, but with some degree of difficulty. Central
Thai is the official dialect.
Websites:
CIA World Factbook 2002: Thailand
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html
The economy is primarily service- and industry-based, but agriculture plays an important
economic role as well, particularly in terms of employment: over half the nation's workforce is
employed in this sector, despite contributing only 11 per cent of the GDP. In fact, Thailand
experiences labour shortages in the agricultural, seafood, and domestic-help sectors, among
others. This shortfall is made up by illegal migrant workers, the vast majority of whom come
from Burma. There are also many Laotian and Khmer illegal migrant workers. The overall
unemployment rate stands at around 3.9 per cent. Major exports are: computers, transistors,
seafood, clothing, and rice.
The nation has a population of around 62 million, of which over 10 million live in the capital
city, Bangkok. Bangkok is the political and economic centre of Thailand. The country is divided
into 76 provinces.
Infant mortality is 29.5 per 1,000 live births, down from 47.7 in 1984. In 1986, the life
expectancy for women was 65 years, and 61 years for men. Current estimates place it at 73 years
for women and 66 years for men. Fertility is 1.86 children born per woman. The Thai
government has made significant advances in the provision of public health care, with 10.3 per
cent of the budget being spent on public health and related social welfare issues. Two major
threats to public health are HIV, which currently affects around 2.19 per cent of the population,
and the domestic drug problem.
Websites:
CIA World Factbook 2002: Thailand
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html
Chulalongkorn University
http://www.chula.ac.th
Until 1937 Vietnamese refugees obtained Thai citizenship and were fully assimilated into Thai
society. This is evidenced by the fact that some of their number obtained high ranks in the civil
and military services. The descendents of these immigrants are referred to as ‘Old Vietnamese’
and are estimated to be around 20,000 in number. In 1937 Thailand signed a treaty with the
French which decreed that all Indochinese refugees entering Thailand would be considered
French subjects and registered as foreign aliens.
After World War II Thailand was forced to withdraw from areas of western Cambodia that were
ceded to it by Vichy France in the 1940s. Many Vietnamese who had settled in the Thai areas of
Cambodia fled to Thailand with the Thais. This migration was in turn followed by refugees
fleeing fighting between the French forces and the Viet Minh and Lao Issara (Free Lao). It is
estimated that as many as 46,700 refugees fled to Thailand from 1946 to 1949.
During the 1950s, the Vietnamese population continued to grow due to a natural growth rate of
approximately 3 per cent per annum, plus Vietnamese refugees from Cambodia and Laos in the
final stages of the French colonial war. After 1949, Vietnamese refugees were no longer free to
settle in Thailand. Instead they were restricted to five north-eastern provinces. In the 1950s the
overt support for the Viet Minh by Vietnamese refugees in Thailand raised fears that refugees
could form a Communist ‘fifth column’ in Thailand. This and other security fears associated
with refugees have remained prominent concerns in Thai refugee policy-making up to the
present day. In the early 1960s Thailand began to repatriate Vietnamese refugees to North
Vietnam. As many as 35,000 were repatriated, but the process stopped with the Gulf of Tonkin
incident in 1964. It is estimated that approximately 80,000 Vietnamese remained in Thailand in
1975 on the eve of the post-Vietnam War refugee influx.
From the fall of Saigon in April 1975 until the end of that year, approximately 75,000
Indochinese refugees entered Thailand, most of whom came from Laos. The arrival rate dropped
to approximately 35,000 per year for the following year and picked up again in 1978. The inflow
of refugees peaked in 1979, with approximately 200,000, due to the invasion of Cambodia by
Vietnam. The number of arrivals tapered in the following years, with 113,867 in 1980, 43,260 in
1981, and 11,261 in 1982. For the ten-year period following 1975, Thailand received over
652,000 refugees, most of whom arrived by land. This figure is four times more than was
received by any other Association of Southest Asian Nations (ASEAN) country, and accounted
for approximately half of the entire post-1975 Indochinese Diaspora. Thailand continued to
receive as much as half the total exodus from Indochina in the 1980s.
In addition to the official figures were another quarter of a million Cambodian displaced persons
who do not feature in the data because they were deemed to be only temporarily displaced. The
Cambodians were the largest ethnic group among the refugee population, followed by the
lowland Laotians and Hmong, who continued to arrive in steady numbers in the 1980s after there
was a rapid decline in the arrival of other ethnic groups. This was perceived by the Thai
government to be economic migration as opposed to forced migration. The smallest group was
the Vietnamese.
Approximately 80 per cent of the total number of Indochinese refugees in Thailand has since
departed either through third-country resettlement, repatriation, or relocation. The Vietnamese
have the highest resettlement rate at 90 per cent. They also experience the shortest resettlement
interval period, with the average waiting time being less than a year. Lowland Laotians have the
next highest resettlement rate at around 77 per cent; Cambodians are next at a rate of 67 per cent,
and Hmong and other hill-tribe refugees come in last with a resettlement rate of only 57 per cent.
The resettlement rates of all groups have declined dramatically since the early 1980s, leaving the
country with a significant residual refugee population. The most common reason cited for this is
‘compassion fatigue’.
The Thai authorities see repatriation as the only alternative to resettlement. They have been
particularly forceful with this policy when dealing with Cambodian refugees. In 1979 around
43,000 Cambodian refugees were forcefully repatriated as a deterrent to other potential refugees.
This process was halted shortly thereafter when it caused an international outcry.
During 1992 and 1993 there were large scale repatriations of Cambodian refugees organized by
the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Much of this work was
undone when fighting broke out in western Cambodia between the Royal Cambodian Armed
Forces and the armed opposition group the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (NADK) –
commonly known as the Khmer Rouge – in March 1994. Between 25,000 and 30,000 people fled
into Thailand. On 25 March the Thai authorities began forcibly repatriating these refugees into
an area of Cambodia controlled by the NADK. Many of the refugees were women and children,
and the armed conflict was still occurring in this area. The move received strong international
criticism.
Thailand is not a signatory of the UN convention on refugees, and thus is under no international
obligation to resettle refugees within Thailand. In fact, while the Thai government is prepared to
grant refugees temporary shelter while they wait for third-country resettlement or repatriation, it
is not prepared to grant permanent residency or citizenship to any of the residual refugee
population.
There have been many waves of Burmese refugees since Ne Win’s military take-over in 1959.
Many cross-border hill tribes have been involved in guerrilla wars against the central
government, and many have sought temporary shelter in Thailand during government offensives.
The Burmese number varied according the military situation at the time; however, estimates put
the number at approximately 13,000 by the late 1970s.
In the late 1950s at the close of the ‘Malaysian Emergency’, a small number of Communist
guerrillas slipped across the border into Thailand, where they blended into the local Malay
community. These migrants are often blamed for the continuing insurgency problems
experienced in Southern Thailand.
The second group is made up of members of the different ethnic minority groups (primarily
Karen, Karenni, and Shan) living near or straddling the Thai–Burmese border. This group has
fled armed conflict, forced displacement, forced labour, and other abuses. Other than the Shan,
these groups have been allowed to form camps. Historically, the ethnic minorities did not have
access to UNHCR unless they could prove, again in Bangkok, ‘secondary persecution’ at the
border. If they were unable to do this they would be classified as ‘border cases’ and advised to
return to the border. These groups have little or no protection and are subject to cross-border
attacks by Burmese forces, arrest if caught outside the camps, denial of entry at the border, and
repeated instances of refoulement by the Thai authorities.
This group has been arriving since the end of World War II, but began arriving in significant
numbers after a major Burmese government offensive in 1984. The refugees in camps on the
border have swollen from approximately 20,000 in the 1980s to currently around 120,000. The
camps are provided with basic food and medical assistance by a consortium of private,
international relief agencies. In 1998, UNHCR established three permanent field offices on the
border in order to provide international protection to the refugees, but it provides no
humanitarian assistance to the camps. There are also an estimated 100,000 Shan refugees living
in Thailand without the protection of camps. Historically, Shan people entering Thailand have
been viewed as seasonal labour for orchards and construction sites. However, in July 1996, a
group of Shan people in Thailand made an urgent appeal to UNHCR, asking for the setting up of
refugee camps. Whilst their ethnic background, Tai Yai, allows them to move within the Tai Yai
community in Thailand, they have become more visible in recent years due to increased
persecution and forced relation programmes inside Burma, resulting in greater numbers arriving
in Thailand.
Following a July 1995 ceasefire between the New Mon State Party and the ruling regime in
Burma, there was a repatriation of approximately 10,000 Mon refugees. This was carried out
without international criteria being met, and no UNHCR monitoring arrangements on the
Burmese side of the border.
There are as many as 800,000 Burmese living and working in Thailand outside the camps,
according to Thai government estimates in 1997. As Thailand has not yet ratified the 1951
Convention relating to the status of refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the Thai government sees the
Burmese as displaced persons and does not process them as refugees. Many choose to live and
work outside the camps, as camp life can offer little in the way of a future and there seems to be
little in the way of a solution in sight to the problems across the border in Burma. Some also do
not feel safe in the camps situated on the Burmese border where they can be attacked by
Burmese government forces. Many may flee persecution but choose to work rather than stay in a
camp where employment is forbidden. Due to Thailand’s stance on the status of refugees, these
people are largely seen as economic refugees despite their frequently mixed reasons for entering
Thailand, and are classed as illegal migrant workers. The Thai government attempts to manage
this population through a series of registrations, the last one being in 2001 when 447,093
Burmese applied for registration.
The Thai government has not allowed UNHCR to take a leading role in the Burmese refugee
situation as they did with the Indochinese refugees of the 1970s. This has had a very negative
impact on the resettlement prospects, security, and humanitarian efforts for the Burmese
refugees. Critics of this policy have suggested that this may be due to negative experiences that
Thailand had with the refugee crisis in the 1970s; an unwillingness to upset its neighbour,
Burma, by internationalizing its ethnic conflicts; or the economic self-interest of parts of the Thai
government.
Security concerns have featured strongly in Thai policy-making in regard to refugees since the
1950s. After 1999 and 2000, the Thai government took a much stronger stance on Burmese
refugees following two incidents where Burmese nationals provided cause for these concerns. In
October 1999 a group known as the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW) took over the
visa section of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok, holding around twenty people hostage. After
negotiations, the Thai government flew them to the Burmese border and let them go free. They
crossed into Burma, where they sought refuge with a group known as God’s Army, led by two
boy twins. In January 2000, representatives of God’s Army took over the Rachaburi Provincial
Hospital. This time the Thai military stormed the hospital and killed all of the hostage-takers.
The Thai public was outraged by the actions of the Burmese, and the government cracked down
on Burmese ‘illegals’. The crackdown resulted in many cases of forced repatriation without any
concern for the safety of the repatriated parties.
Websites:
Human Rights Watch: Burmese Refugees in Thailand at Risk (Press Backgrounder)
http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/05/thaiback0506.htm
The Pak Mun dam is infamous for being one of the country's least successful dam projects. The
dam was constructed by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) in 1994 to
provide hydroelectric power. Its actual output is far below that for which it was planned, and its
financial, social, and environmental costs are much greater than expected. In all, around 1,700
households lost part or all of their land, and a further 6,000 households lost part or all of their
livelihood when fishing grounds were destroyed. Compensation was paid, but compensation
disputes continue, with the displaced complaining that they haven’t been adequately
compensated. The Thai government and the World Bank, who funded the project, counter that
the compensation has been generous and that fraudulent claims have been made as a result of this
generosity.
The Pak Mun dam was one of the factors leading to the formation of the ‘Assembly of the Poor’
in 1995, a local Thai NGO championing the rights of poor villages suffering from large-scale
development projects.
The Rasi Salai dam, located on the Mun river, was completed in 1994. It was designed as an
irrigation project, with the objective of irrigating 5,500 hectares in Northeastern Thailand. The
dam displaced around 3,000 families, of which around 1,200 were compensated. Protests for
further compensation ensued, including demands for the reconstruction of a village in the path of
the dam's rising reservoir populated by 1,850 people. In August 1999, the inhabitants dared the
government to drown them or open the sluice gates. The standoff ended when the Science
Minister agreed to open the gates and keep them open for at least two years in July 2000. The
dam is considered unsuitable for irrigation, as it is built on a large salt deposit which makes the
water too salty for this purpose.
The Khao Laem dam was built in 1989 by EGAT on the Kwai Noi river. It displaced 1,860
families, many of whom now live illegally around the edge of the dam's reservoir, having found
the land they were resettled to unsatisfactory in terms of maintaining their customary way of life.
The Sri Nakorn dam was built in the late 1970s not far from where the Khao Laem dam is now
located. This dam displaced approximately 4,000 families.
Websites:
Images Asia: details of the Salween dam plan
http://www.searin.org/Th/SWD/SWDnE1.htm
Websites:
UNHCR Map: Myanmar–Thailand border, refugee population by gender
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-
bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.pdf?tbl=MEDIA&id=3da150087&page=publ
3.3 NGOs
Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD)
http://ksc11.th.com/acfodbkk/
EMPOWER
http://www.empowerwomen.org/
Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation
http://www.sulak-sivaraksa.org/
4 Other resources
4.1 Thai newspapers
Newspapers in Thailand
http://www.thaiwebsites.com/newspapers.asp?mode=newspapers
Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
The Nation
www.nationmultimedia.com
Business Day
http://www.bday.net/
U.S. State Department: 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Thailand
http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/thailand.html
?, ?, ‘To Forcibly Repatriate or Not: Thailand’s Dilemma’, Burma Issues, April 1997.