the 14th International Conference on Thai Studies (ICTS14), Oneline 2022/04
<Abstract>
This paper examines how people of the ethnic minority groups in Burma, who had been displaced to neighboring Thailand, contribute to the changes in the society of Burma after its democratization since the 2011. The civil war of Burma lasted more than 70 years. Within the course of the war, not a small number of people were displaced to Thailand. Since the 1990s, these displaced people established civil society organizations (CSOs) on the soil of Thailand, engaging in humanitarian assistances or political movements. The funding from international donors accelerated the trend. Such CSOs, mostly active in Chiang Mai or Mae Sot, are normally ethnic based: such as Shan Youth Organization or Karen Women Empowerment Group. They mainly worked for their own ethnic sake, but sometimes collaborated with CSOs of other ethnic groups, which established wider inter-ethnic networks. However, the trend changed since the democratic process began in Burma. It led decreasing of funding from international doors in Thailand, while accelerating the one in Burma. That urged the “civil society” in Thailand to transplant to Burma in two ways: first, CSOs which had been established in Thailand, set up their offices in Burma and dispatched their staffs from Thailand. They gradually shift their operations to Burma. Second, those who have worked or experienced in the “civil society” in Thailand, established their own CSOs expecting funding for international donors. That led to the increase of smaller, and sometimes, inactive CSOs in the area of ethnic minorities. The superficial trend that CSOs have increased in Burma, have been evaluated by some scholars that “the society of Burma turned to be more democratic.”