ABSTRACT
This chapter explores dynamics for the refugee camps in Thailand. The chapter identifies a struggle to own and to define justice at the institutional level. It opens with an overview of the structures used to resolve cases by refugees, before going on to examine how these systems are viewed by camp residents and by international organizations. In Thailand trusted community-led systems have taken the primary role in maintaining stability and security. In these camps serious violent crime is relatively rare but many other crimes and social problems occur: theft, assault and domestic violence, to gambling, drug and alcohol abuse, to the more culturally specific concerns of adultery and pre-marital sex. In the late 1990s, a set of camp rules and regulations was drafted by members of the Karen Elders Advisory Board and Karen Refugee Committee (KRC), to apply to all seven Karen refugee camps.
