Abstract
The Lisu are an Ethnic Minority who arrived on the periphery of Northern Thailand at the beginning of this century, after Thailand had started as a newly formed nation-state in the face of the threat of Western colonialism. Even though they trespassed across the national boundary of Thailand, they enjoyed an anarchic state at the onset, and experienced no strong interference from the government until the frontier region became a strategically important area for national security. With this situational change, the Thai government started administrative integration of ethnic minorities including the Lisu.
The Salween river has long functioned as a natural index for the Pan-Lisu self-classification and the Lisu used to have dichotomous self-division along this river, such as the Lisu of “Upper Part of the Salween” and “Lower Part of the Salween” or “Northern Bank of the Salween” and “Southern Bank of the Salween.” However, owing to the political subsumption of the Lisu by the government, this dichotomy also began to be replaced by a new dichotomy; namely “the other side of the border” and “this side of the border.” In a sense, the notional merger of the national boundary and the Salween river can be observed here.
The Lisu in Thailand now appears to be in the process of acquiring a new identity as “Thai Lisu.” which crosses and modifies the indigenous sub-group classification across national boundaries.
