ABSTRACT
Understanding mobilities, agency, and embeddedness Being mobile and flexible has been a central feature of Akha history and remains so in the context of urban ethnic minority enterprises. Since the Akha have faced confrontations with stronger ethnic groups in their ‘homeland’ areas of Tibet, Szechuan, and Yunnan they regularly moved southward until reaching northern Thailand’s highlands and eventually, urban areas. In the context of urban migration and souvenir business, Akha mobilities take place on various scales relating to urban-directed migration as well as everyday movements in the context of their work as roaming mobile street vendors.
