The purpose of this study is to identify the land settlement process and the changing of dwelling system of boat people in the river basin and the coast of Guangdong,Guangxi provinces of China and Northern Vietnam. Like “Danmin”in China, there are still a lot of people dwelling on the water in Southeast Asian countries. However, in Southern China, boat people have already moved on the land under the state policies. Some cases of land settlement have been progressed by the boat people themselves independently but it can be read that most of it occurred under the rapid and compulsorily enforcement of state power.
