Today marks the midpoint of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, and I don’t know what to say. I am proud of my mix of cultures, even while it’s taken a while to get here and to reconcile the problematic history in my roots. So this is a photo essay from a Thai / Chinese TCK (third-culture kid) perspective.
I’m not sure what it means to “Asian” or “Asian-American.” Many days, I don’t even know how to define Thai. The current country known as Thailand is the land that was eventually consolidated under the Kingdom of Siam. But, as China was the longest-running colonial power in Asia, there are plenty of cultural influences from there too – we’ll get to that some other time. The Thai language is derived from Sanskrit by way of Khmer, and plenty of Thai traditions reflect that. However, Thailand itself is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. A lot of these other identities used to be much more dominant in their regions, but these identities were suppressed in favour of a “unified identity” during the colonial period while Europe was carving out Southeast Asia.
The process began under King Mongkut, who coined the concept of “siwalai” – roughly mirroring the English word “civilised.” In a series of reforms, “siwalai” was enforced in new dress codes and codes of conduct: the old style of a phanung – a single length of cloth that was wrapped around the waist and tied off either as a skirt or twisted and tucked between the legs to serve as pants (chong kraben) – worn by men and women alike, with women optionally wearing a phasin (breast cloth) or going topless (photo 1 – below: the Bunnag sisters, royal consorts of King Chulalongkorn), was outlawed in public in favour of a Victorian style blouse and accessories. Along with the concept of siwalai came official racial and ethnic stratification. People of different regions were to say that they were “Siamese,” rather than “Isaan” or “Lanna.”
Photo 2 shows Princess Dara Rasmi of Chiang Mai – the Northern Kingdom that was later officially annexed by Siam – in siwalai dress. Her long hair, in a photo taken by one of the Bunnag sisters, is designed to show her status as a foreigner in the Siamese court and ethnically inferior. Each region had their own languages – Isaan (the Northeast) is still spoken and is very similar to Lao, while Lanna had almost entirely died out, and its culture only been revived through University programmes since the 80s. It’s interesting that in “hi-so” (high society) discussions of siwalai, Lanna was considered inferior, but far better than Isaan. However, when the French saw an opportunity through the linguistic similarities of the neighbouring region to their colonised Laos, Siam suddenly decided to officially claim the Isaan region as Thai.
Photos:
- Old and modern Lanna dress.
- 4. Casual / formal Isaan dress.
- Regional textiles and ethnicities of Isaan (mudmee – Cambodian influence, kalasin from the Phu Tai people, and khram – Thai indigo – from Sakon Nakhon).
- Old (resembling India) and modern Southern dress (note the Malay and Indo Muslim influences).
- Akha people.
- Tai Lue people.
- Karen people.
Lanna Fashion, Old and Modern 
Isaan Fashion, Old and Modern 
Isaan Regional Textiles 
Southern Thai Fashion 
Akha People 
Tai Lue People 
Karen People
Do I criticise these rulers? In some way. They did a lot of good in bringing education to the masses, advancing the country in science and medicine, and one could argue that a unified and modernised image was necessary to avoid colonisation by the various powers that surrounded us. But while the process of self-colonisation may have warded off foreign colonisers, it also led to further suppression of other major ethnic identities, not to mention the many “ethnic minorities” that live within the national borders of Thailand – the Hmong, Mien, Karen, Lisu, Tai-Lue, Akha, etc, who have fewer rights and access to resources. Furthermore, as some are living in essentially “permanent refugee” status (i.e. many generations may be born on these lands but still do not have the rights of citizens), they are subject to “human zoo” conditions where the government gives them a stipend only if they maintain their villages as tourist destinations, where they have very little opportunity to get an education or pursue a different path. Karen women who choose to abandon the tradition of neck rings, that painfully force down and deform their collar bones over time, for example, lose their government “protection” and stipend and are unable to legally work.
What’s my point in all this? I don’t have one neatly summed up. I want you to recognise that identity is complicated, in just one country, not to mention an entire continent. I want you to recognise that there are indigenous peoples all over the world. I want you to recognise that the effects of colonisation, both from internal and external forces, are long-term and complex. I want you to know that Asians don’t just mean “East Asian,” BUT, as they’ve had a long-standing influence over the continent, many of our traditions, beliefs, and even standards of beauty integrate influences from East Asian cultures. And that’s not “selling out.” And I want you to recognise that just because identity can be complex and hybrid, and that peoples are very different, doesn’t mean that they aren’t deserving of respect and human dignity – even if you cannot find “common ground,” and even if their norms and values don’t match yours. And if people choose not to show off or spend time in their traditional cultures, there could be a variety of reasons – from seeking modern opportunities to escaping poverty to avoiding being seen as “other” to simply a lack of interest – and those are all valid.