Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to descirbe and analyze the peripheral situation of the border region in Northern Thailand.
Historically, the inhabitants of the Shan States, including the Shan and other ethnic groups, had continually immigrated into Maehongson to seek refuge from feuds among Shan chiefdoms, or to seach for new land. Because of the difficulty of transportation in this area, these immigrants were free from the constraints of the nearby political centres: Lannathai in Chiangmai, Burmese in Mandalay, and minor Shan chiefdoms in the Shan States.
With the colonialization of upper Burma by the British in 1886, the concept of state borders with territorial sovereignty was introduced in this area. The agreement on the border between the British Shan States and Northern Thailand placed Maehongson under Thai sovereignty.
While the majority of the inhabitants of Maehongson have become Thai nationals, new immigrants cannot obtain Thai nationality. So the Shan in Maehongson are divided into two categories: those who have Thai nationality and those who do not. This distinction has assumed increasing importance as the Thai government has strengthened its administration of the border area. The Shan who have Thai nationality enjoy privileges from the Thai government. But the Shan without Thai nationality are discriminated against as “illegal foreign immigrants. ”
Against this social background, the religious practice of the novice ordination among Shan villagers in Maehongson can be seen to construct new relations between the Shan who inhabit the border area of Thailand and are divided into Thai nationals and foreign immigrants by modern nation-state formation. The sponsor-ordinand relationship in novice ordination provides an alternative path through which the Shan without Thai nationality can participate in the border regional society in Thailand.
