ABSTRACT
One of King Chulalongkorn's (Rama V) titles was 'King of the Karen'. Inheriting this title from his father, King Chulalongkorn worked during his reign from 1868 until 1910 to integrate his Karen subjects into the Thai state he was then reforming. He considered Karen as citizens with all the rights and obligations of native Tai-speakers and other ethnic groups. This chapter exanlines the process of transforming Karen fronl subjects to citizens, which as will be shown, involves many of the problems found in Thai state formation. The chapter also provides a basis for the historical examination of whether the so-called 'hill tribe problenl' can be traced to this process of integration.
