Continuity and change in Hmong cultural identity : a case study of Hmong refugees from Laos in Wat Thamkrabok, Saraburi, Thailand

Abstract

While some of the Hmong refugees from Laos living at Thamkrabok had made their homes on the temple's grounds since the early 1960s, many others came to join friends and family there in the late 1980's and early 1990's as refugee camps throughout Thailand were closed. Given their prolonged refugee situation and the lack in international assistance until recent years, the Hmong of Thamkrabok, lide Hmong in centuries past, have adapted, assimilated, and adjusted to their distinct circumstances in such a manner that has enabled them to persist despite the very difficult and complex situation in which they are found themselves unable to return to their country of origin, were greatly limited in their current location because of their ineligibility for Thai citizenship, and until December 2003, were unable to resettle to a third country. Throughout this adaptation and adjustment process, many of their cultural traditions have been maintained while some aspects of their cultural identity have been adjusted in order to continue as a distinct, cultural group despite limitations on their movement and restricted access to resources and opportunity. This particular project sought to determine a brief history of Hmong culture and traditions in order to further explore and analyze the cultural identity for Hmong refugees from Laos living in Wat Thamkrabok, Saraburi, Thailand. In identifying this distinct cultural identity for the Hmong of Thamkrabok, it became clear that many of their traditions continued as they had previously. Much of this continuity was enabled through the four major cultural mechanisms of the Hmong-leadership, language, religion, and family-which were manifested in the Hmong New Year, wedding, and funeral rituals, and served as an essential means of preserving much of their cultural identity. Many of the areas in which refugees adapted and adjusted were due to economic factors because of their inability to secure regular work and still support their families with no international assistance