The Ex-KMT refugees in Northern Thailand in the age of international-political transformation of post cold war Asia

Abstract

The KMT refugees in northern Thailand derived from the KMT armies’ remnants upon retreated from mainland China to Burma in 1949. Labeled as ‘civilian refugees’ on their arrival in Thailand by the Thai government, they were encouraged to participate in the Thais’ own war on communism until the 1980’s. In reward for subduing the communist problem, some of them were granted Thai citizenship, while others remained stateless. From the perspective of international politics, the Cold War in Asia ended earlier than its counterpart in Europe due to the strategic rise of the People’s Republic of China and the ensuing adjustment of the U.S’s political strategies in Asia. A transformation in terms of the international-political system and structure of Asia from the 1970’s onwards has shaped the human security fate of the target groups. The ex-KMTs in northern Thailand gradually lost their strategic importance in the ‘grand chessboard’ of all interested parties. However, the KMT refugees exist as more than mere “victims’ of the transformation. They struggle for resettlement in Thailand or return to Taiwan, and also strive to improve their human security status through advocacy initiatives with relevant parties and communal governance. Different coping strategies have led to diverse effects on the human security status of the target groups. The spontaneous and non-structural coping strategies have been greatly insufficient to protect the target groups from diverse but interrelated human security threats. The thesis depends primarily on documentary research. Fieldwork research at two villages, Mae Salong and Santisuk, also contributes to understanding the limitations and contributions of the target groups’ coping strategies as well as their human security status in the four major dimensions of community, economic, and education, and nationality security.