Friday Forum: Ian Baird

Описание: Beginning in the early 1960s, many ethnic Hmong people in Thailand joined the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). Some travelled to northern Laos for political and military training. Others received further education in Vietnam and China. In May 1967, fighting broke out between some Hmong in Chiang Rai Province and Thai security forces. Soon, the conflict spread south, and by 1969 a large number of CPT-controlled strongholds had been established in the mountains of northern Thailand, many in areas where Hmong people lived. As the CPT’s influence in the mountains expanded, the Thai military sought to resettle upland ethnic minorities to the lowlands, to keep them from contacting the CPT. In late 1970, the first Volunteer Hill Tribe Militia (VHTM) was established in Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai Province. Many ethnic minorities who had previously been resettled from the mountains were recruited to help combat the CPT threat. Soon after, other VHTM companies were established in Phusang District, Chiang Rai Province; Paklang and Thung Chang Districts, Nan Province; and Khek Noi and Lao Lue Villages in Phetchabun Province. By the early 1970s, there were six VHTM companies, all located in the lowlands adjacent to CPT strongholds in the mountains, but operating in different circumstances. In this presentation, it is argued, based on years of research compiled in my book, Thailand’s Volunteer Hill Tribe Militia: An Under-Recognized Anti-Communist Force (1970-1983) (White Lotus Press, 2024), that both groups had, ironically, a similar goal, to combat discrimination in order to gain citizen rights and better treatment in Thailand, although their methods and alliances greatly differed. By 1983, most of those with the CPT had taken advantage of a government amnesty to leave the CPT and rejoin mainstream society, and as a result, the VHTMs were dissolved. The legacies of both groups and their struggles are discussed.