ABSTRACT
The international border dispute centred on claims to ownership of the Preah Vihear temple by both Thailand and Cambodia is an archetypal example of the politicisation of heritage. Overshadowed by these nationalistic discussions, however, was the impact of this conflict at the local level. Focusing on the lesser-known narrative of the Indigenous Kui community in Northeast Thailand, this chapter examines how politics at the national and international levels have resonant effects at the community level, exploring the impact the Preah Vihear temple dispute had on the Kui heritage of elephant-catching. Opening with a historical overview, this chapter presents Thailand's (or Siam's, as it was at the time) experience of colonialism and, later, the Cold War, to contextualise the specific issues facing Indigenous communities within Thailand. This, in large part, relates to the state-level denial of Indigenous existence within the country. This history then leads to a discussion on the role of heritage in forming Thai social memory and how expressions of identity have been tightly controlled to promote a specific narrative of cultural and ethnic homogeneity. At the centre of this chapter is the case study of Preah Vihear, beginning with the traditional description of the international conflict before moving to an analysis of the local consequences of this dispute for the Kui, as the closure of the border between the two countries marked the beginning of the end of the Kui practice of elephant-catching, through the disruption of their traditional hunting paths. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2018 and 2022, this chapter considers how the Kui responded to the endangerment of their traditions through the heritagisation of their culture and Indigenous identity for national consumption, arguing that, in this way, the Kui achieved recognition – and cultural resilience – through a deliberate act of partial misrecognition.
