History-Making: The Communist Party of Thailand's Attempt to Shape Hmong and Lua Narratives

Abstract

Armed conflict between the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) and the military of Thailand in northern Thailand began in mid-1967. By the end of the 1960s, there were a number of CPT stronghold bases in the remote uplands of Northern Thailand. Large numbers of ethnic Hmong and Lua people joined the CPT, and the CPT strongholds were in areas where these groups had previously lived. During the 1970s, once the strongholds were established, the CPT organized a small project on the history of ethnic groups that had not been reported on so far. Led by a scholar formerly from Bangkok and involving ethnic Hmong and ethnic Lua men, the project was expected to collect, compile, and analyze ethnic group histories and create a written history in Central Thai language. While the project was never completed - and no documents appear to have survived from it - the Hmong man who worked on the project has provided an oral account of what happened, one that reveals some aspects of CPT political thought, particularly in relation to ideas about ethnic minority histories. The main argument here is that the CPT, as with other communist regimes in Asia, saw ethnic harmony as important for its broader political project, and tried to enhance good relations through the development of a politically acceptable history that would also fit with Hmong and Lua expectations. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the CPT's approach to ethnicity issues.