ABSTRACT
Looking at official population data, Thailand as a modern nation state seems to be characterized by ethnic and cultural homogeneity. This unity can be explained with the notion of ‘Thainess’, a well-constructed collective identity based on three pillars: first, chat (the nation, including speaking Thai as a manifestation of membership in the Thai nation); second, satsana (the religion, being Thai is being Buddhist); and third, phra maha kasat (the monarchy, being Thai means devoting oneself to the Thai monarchy) (Keyes, 1997; Laungaramsri, 2003; Vaddhanaphuti, 2005). “The essence of Thainess has been well preserved up to the present time despite the fact that Siam has been transformed greatly toward modernization in the past hundred years” (Winichakul, 1994, p. 3). The construction of Thainess has served to integrate or assimilate certain populations (e.g., the Tai-Lao speaking peoples of northeastern Thailand) and to exclude others (e.g., the highland ethnic minority groups). Outlining these larger structural conditions is necessary to better understand the actions of and barriers faced by the Akha minority souvenir sellers in Thailand’s urban areas.
