INTEGRATING OTHERS: A STUDY OF A BORDER SOCIAL SYSTEM IN THE THAILAND-BURMA BORDERLAND LEE SANG KOOK NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2007 INTEGRATING OTHERS: A STUDY OF A BORDER SOCIAL SYSTEM IN THE THAILAND-BURMA BORDERLAND LEE SANG KOOK (M.A., Seoul National University/Korea) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I was in deep grief at the final stage of writing this thesis due to the sudden demise of my great teacher, Ananda Rajah. With the loss of my great mentor, I struggled to overcome the emptiness of my heart and to find new sources of the inspiration and sharpness he used to provide. The final stages of my writing were filled with regret that I lost him too early before I could appreciate him both as a friend and an intellectual peer. His absence made me realize what a great teacher he was to me and how well I was taken care of by him. I dedicate this thesis to him. Through this sorrowful period, many people stood behind me, shared my sadness and encouraged me to carry on my work. Above all, I am deeply grateful to Saroja Dorairajoo for taking over the supervisory role and wonderfully guiding my study in the remaining period. I am very thankful to Hing Ai Yun for her dedicated care throughout my years at NUS and particularly at the final stage. I also thank the other two members of my thesis committee. Carl Grundy-Warr shared my grief at losing his good friend and was a great help towards the completion of this thesis. Kyaw Yin Hlaing kindly agreed to be in my committee and provided insightful comments on the thesis. I also extend my gratitude to my former committee member, Niti Pawakapan, for his contribution at the early stages of my study before he moved from NUS to Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. I thank Oh Myung Seok, my former supervisor back in Korea, for guiding me to NUS and for introducing me the pleasure of learning about Southeast Asia. I also benefited from good friends during the editing of this thesis. Daniel Soon and Charanpal Singh Bal were willing to lend a hand in doing this job. I am also grateful to Kamaludeen for devoting his energy to the editing of this thesis. I also thank my friends in the sociology department for their friendship over the years. i During my stay in Thailand, many people assisted and facilitated my research. Supang Chatavanich, Director of Asian Research Center for Migration, Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, helped me conduct fieldwork by granting me the status of a visiting fellow in the Institute. Pornpimon Trichot, as an academic advisor in the Institute was also very helpful to me. My data-collection would never have been possible without help from people in Mae Sot. First of all, I received tremendous assistance from Ekasith in settling down in the field and approaching various groups of people and organizations in Mae Sot. I am also indebted to Peter. He was willing to lend a hand by helping me interview many people. I enjoyed the companionship of Supha and Nuanphan. Being around with them made my life in Mae Sot more joyful. I am thankful to many civil servants in government sectors in Mae Sot for their generosity in providing information. The help which the Karen people have given me in my research can never be overemphasized. Among them, my research assistant, Plalawla, was most helpful in conducting this research. He assisted me in learning Karen and Burmese and assisted me in interviewing many Burmese people. A good relationship with the Karen in Mae Sot First Church was not only conducive to my research but also conducive to my personal and social well-being throughout my stay in Mae Sot. Besides, I thank many Burmese, though I cannot name them, for their willingness in sharing their experiences. I am grateful to many NGOs in Mae Sot for welcoming me and providing me with materials for my research. My gratitude is extended to Oh Young Cheol who has been supportive of my research since the beginning of my interest in the Thailand-Burma Borderland in 1999 and Kim Bong Kook who was willing to help me settle in Mae Sot and provide helpful information. ii In Singapore, I was also indebted to many people. I thank Shin Yoon Hwan and his family for embracing my wife and me as if we were their family members. I am also thankful to Kim Jee Hun for his help and companionship. I am grateful to Park Bae Gyoon and Lee Yong Sook for their kind treatment and encouragement. Also, I thank members of Korean Church in Singapore for fellowship throughout my stay in Singapore. I am also grateful to the Karen Church in Singapore for treating me as their member. In conducting fieldwork, I received financial support from the Asia Research Institute at NUS and the Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies. This financial assistance was crucial in carrying out fieldwork with financial stability. Besides, I am indebted to the Korean government for granting me the Korean Government Overseas Scholarship to enroll in the PhD program at NUS. I am also thankful to NUS and particularly the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for providing me with a scholarship and conference funding throughout my years at NUS. Lastly I express my heartfelt gratitude to my family. I was always remembered in the prayers of my mother and father. I hope my small effort can pay back their unimaginable sacrifice and love for me. I also thank my brother and sister for their concern and timely encouragement. Above all, my wife, Kim Sun Hee, has always been with me, going through both the joyful and sorrowful periods in Thailand and Singapore. She was a great adviser and friend in every step of my research. I hope my work would be a humble appreciation for her immeasurable devotion to me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………i Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………..iv Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………...vi List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………..viii List of Plates…………………………………………………………………………………………….ix List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………x List of Maps……………………………………………………………………………………………..xi Currency………………………………………………………………………………………………...xii Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………………………..xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 PROBLEM..............................................................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................3 QUEST FOR THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..............................................................................................8 Plural society ..................................................................................................................................9 State-society approaches...............................................................................................................12 Globalization ................................................................................................................................14 TOWARDS A “BORDER SOCIAL SYSTEM”.............................................................................................17 METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES.................................................................................................................22 OUTLINE OF THE STUDY .....................................................................................................................27 CHAPTER 2 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF A BORDER SOCIAL SYSTEM IN MAE SOT..............................................................................................................................................32 THE PRE-DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL SYSTEM: FROM THE 13TH CENTURY TO THE 1820S ..................33 Muang Chot and commercial connections....................................................................................34 Warfare and its consequences.......................................................................................................38 MIGRATION AND GROWING OF A SOCIAL SYSTEM: FROM THE 1820S TO 1962 ...................................43 The British colonization of (Lower) Burma and migration of various groups..............................43 Patterns of culture and settlement.................................................................................................46 The making of a national town......................................................................................................48 BLACK MARKETS AND COMMERCE-DRIVEN SOCIAL SYSTEM: FROM 1962 TO1988............................53 The Burmese Way to Socialism and the flourishing black markets...............................................54 The KNU and Mae Sot ..................................................................................................................57 Commerce-centered social system ................................................................................................59 MASSIVE MIGRATION AND MIGRANT INSTITUTIONS: FROM 1988 ......................................................61 Political crisis in Burma and population movement.....................................................................62 Changing policies of Thailand......................................................................................................64