Comparing Thai Chinese Ethnic Identities : A case study of Chaozhou and Hakka in Thailand

• Main Authors: LIU CHIEH, 劉婕
• Other Authors: 王俐容
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/vp38kf

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 客家社會文化研究所 === 104 === There are currently over fifty million overseas Chinese living around the world. Because overseas Chinese have found themselves living in foreign environments and coming into contact with unfamiliar local cultures, they have often faced problems with integration. Differences in geography, culture and political structures have resulted in different concepts of race and racial identity. Chinese have migrated to Thailand for a long time. The Chaozhou population has accounted for the highest number of such migrants (56%), with the second largest group being the Hakka (about 16%). Their relationship with the Thai people has been strongly influenced by Thai assimilation and isolation policies; as a result of intermarriage and the intermingling of language and culture, the racial identity of the Thai Chinese slowly changed. Despite forming the majority of the Chinese population in Thailand, the Chaozhou group has not been able to avoid assimilation; similarly the Hakka have found that maintaining their own culture and identity in Thailand has been a long and difficult process. Most studies of overseas Chinese populations compare “overseas Chinese” with “Chinese”. This study, however, will focus on the comparison of the Chaozhou and Hakka groups within the overseas Chinese populations of Thailand. This paper examines the following issues: First, what is the status of the ethnic cultural preservation of the Chaozhou and Hakka peoples in Thailand? How successful have they been in keeping or continuing their cultural memories, practices or beliefs? Second, how fluid are the ethnic identities of the Chaozhou and Hakka peoples? How have the policies of the Thai government influenced Thai Chinese ethnic identity, and what specific factors have contributed to cultural change? Third, this paper seeks to gain a better understanding of the development of Chinese identity by comparing and contrasting the ethnic identities of the Chaozhou and Hakka peoples. How do racial identities develop, and how persistent is cultural memory? This study is based on qualitative research, consisting of three components: literary analysis, participant observation and interviews. This study found that in the historical context of Thai assimilation policies, four significant factors affected the ethnic identity and fluidity of the Chaozhou and Hakka peoples in Thailand. The first is intermarriage between Thais and Chinese, facilitating closer social relationships. The second is continuing associations relations with hometowns in China, preserving and deepeningdeepending racial identity. The third factor is control of language, prohibiting Chinese and forcing the use of the local language, causing significant cultural change and therefore changes in ethnic identity. The fourth factor is the influence of urbanization, resulting in the loss of village life and the intermingling of cultures in large urban environments. This study found that the Chaozhou and Hakka peoples in Thailand still strongly identified as "Chinese", with the Hakka having a notably stronger sense of connection to Chinese ethnic identity than the Chaozhou.