U.S. and Non-U.S. Scholars

Fulbright New Century Scholars Program
Overview • Previous NCS Programs • NCS Scholar List • NCS Brochure • 2002-2003

Kwanchewan Buadaeng

Researcher
Chiang Mai University Social Research Institute
Ethnic and Religious Identity of the Karen Peoples Along Thailand-Burma Border
Thailand

Kwanchewan Buadaeng (Ph.D.) is a researcher at the Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. She received her M.A. in anthropology from Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines in 1988. Her Master's thesis was on "The Karen and the Khruba Khao Pi Movement: A Historical Study of the Response to the Transformation in Northern Thailand". In 2001, she received her Ph.D., also in anthropology, from the University of Sydney, Australia, with the thesis "Negotiating Religious Practices in a Changing Sgaw Karen Community in North Thailand."

Dr. Buadaeng has long worked in the area of research and development among the Karen and other highland ethnic groups of Northern Thailand. One important previous position was a farming system analyst of the Thai-German Highland Development Project (TG-HDP) during 1988-1994. She was involved in the design, conduct, supervision and analysis of baseline and impact surveys, studies and case studies with the TG-HDP advisors, other staff and short term consultants in order to monitor and evaluate the agriculture and forestry projects.

In her current position, Dr. Buadaeng is constantly involved in research on highland ethnic groups in Thailand and neighboring countries. Her research interests are in the area of cultural and ethnic identities, religious practices and movements, impact of modernization and government policy on ethnic peoples' lives and their responses to modernization and globalization. Along with her research, Dr. Buadaeng has also supervised national and international graduate students' theses and regularly taught courses on ethnicity, and the history and culture of ethnic groups in Thailand. She also serves as advisor to numerous research and development projects on ethnic groups.

Selected Publications:

"A Study of the Socio-Economic Vulnerability of Urban-Based Tribal Peoples in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, Thailand." A consultancy report submitted to the International Labour Office. 2001.
"Khuba Movements and the Karen in Northern Thailand: Negotiating Sacred Space and Identity." Paper presented at the international workshop on Cultural Diversity and Conservation in the Making of Mainland Southeast Asia and Southwestern China: Regional Dynamics in the Past and Present. Luang Prabang, Lao P.D.R. February 14-21, 2002.
"Religious Changes: the Complexity of the Identification of the Karen in Northern Thailand" (in Thai). Paper presented at the Annual Meeting in Anthropology, Bangkok. March 27-29, 2002.
"Telekhon Movements and the "Sacred Space" of the Karen at Thai-Burma Border" (in Thai). Social Science Journal, Chiang Mai University, 15 (1), 2002: 187-218.

Ethnic and Religious Identity of the Karen Peoples along Thailand-Burma Border

The proposed research looks into the Karen, an ethnic minority numbering 6-8 million, who live in mountains and valleys straddling along Thailand-Burma border. As Thailand and Burma have undergone different historical process of colonization, formation of the modern nation-state and modernization, nature of ethnic relations in both countries is quite different. It is well known that the Karen in Burma have relatively higher status and education due to the special attention and treatment given by the British colony and Christian missionaries. The creation of Karen scripts, the publishing of Karen language newspaper and the establishment of Baptist "Karen college", since the mid of the 19th century, are among other historical events which construct Karen ethnic consciousness and identity. The Karen National Union (KNU), the political organization representing the Karen peoples in Burma, has since the 1949 fought with Burmese governments to gain autonomous control over the Karen state. In contrast, the Karen in Thailand has not developed the pan-Karen movement although they have high percentage of Christian Karen. Besides the political movement, however, the Karen peoples in both countries have also developed many other localized movements that are religious in nature. These movements have their own ideologies and practices, which are not necessary alliance of the KNU's. They are not integrated or under the Burmese and Thai Buddhist system. It is the aim of this proposed research to explore ethnic and religious identities of the Karen peoples that have been constructed and expressed by various types of movements and organizations in responding to specific problematic situation within specific structure of power relations.

In concrete, the research asks three main questions: 1) what are historical and contemporary factors (local, regional and international) contributing to differences in the nature and the development of ethnic relations between the Karen and the Burmese in Burma and the Karen and the Thai in Thailand? 2) what are kinds and nature of conflict and problems in ethnic relations in Burma and Thailand and what and how political/religious/social movements/organizations have been formed by the Karen to solve the conflict and problems? and 3) how do Karen peoples construct/negotiate ethnic and religious identity and space in responding to officially determined space and identity, as expressed in discourses and practices by both movements/organizations and individuals?

The research comprises of field research as well as document research, the latter including historical records, archives and other studies and writings. The field research will take place in selected Karen communities along the border of Thailand-Burma, selected refugee camps, selected Karen communities inside Burma and Thailand. Both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected by means of survey, formal and informal interview, group discussion and participant observation.