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Understanding the Ethnic Inequality of the Thai Lao through Perspectives on Promoting Social Inclusion Policy in Thailand in Accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2
Brief about:
Journal Article (2022)
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Other researchers:
The research examines the differences between a primarily Bangkok Establishment sample and a middle class Thai Lao educator sample on the socioeconomic and political inclusion of the Thai Lao, who face unacknowledged structural inequalities. Furthermore, it prescribes policies to promote inclusion.
It has been previously found that there exist large horizontal structural inequalities between different ethnic groups in Thailand, i.e., exclusion along socioeconomic and political lines, and this research tries to understand why these exist, in areas such as education outcomes, in the case of the Thai Lao.
The Thai Lao are the largest ethnic minority group in Thailand. However, the Thai Lao ethnic group are not recognised by the Thai state, which means their official inclusion is difficult.
As an example of social exclusion, the Thai Lao encounter daily racial prejudice due to their looks, accent, and culture, etc. Notably, Thai Lao women are regarded as the opposite of beautiful due to the Thai conceptualisation of beauty.
As an illustration of economic exclusion, the Thai Lao score poorly on indices like household income.
To exemplify their political exclusion, Thailand is one of the last remaining countries in the world which has centrally appointed provincial governors, and only the Central Thai possess a democratic governance structure, for the capital of the Central Thai region, Bangkok.
This was a case study which, for the first time, sought to obtain an Establishment viewpoint on the inclusion/exclusion of the Thai Lao, Thailand’s largest, if unrecognized, ethnic minority, as well as a viewpoint from a Thai Lao educator sample. While the number of contributors was low, the case study is nonetheless interesting for the breadth and depth of material collected via its survey instrument as well as the categorization of material according to the concepts of social, economic, and political inclusion.
Key findings
- While this was not a quantitative study, 69.5% of the ‘Establishment’ sampled disagreed with the need/desirability of practices to promote the inclusion of the Thai-Lao ethnic group, with the common themes being that the Thai Lao do not exist or that the Thai Lao do exist but are not excluded.
- 60.8% of the ‘Local government education administrators’ sample agreed with the need/desirability of practices to promote inclusion, with the most common theme being the need for greater decentralization.
Proposed action
- The larger goal should be to attain democratically elected provincinal governors for each region who could guarantee more political inclusion of minority ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Thai Lao
- While UN agencies promoting inclusion such as the UNDP and UNESCO cannot openly support Thai political parties in favour of political decentralization, they should openly support the principle of establishing democratically elected provincial governors, as in most other postcolonial societies worldwide
- In order to reduce prejudice against the Thai Lao community, there needs to be active promotion of Thai Lao and Laos literature, culture, music and clothing, etc
, in line with ASEAN’s Socioeconomic Pillar, to ensure greater social inclusion.
- Campaigns against racial prejudice against the Thai Lao (and other ethnic minorities) are also necessary
- Thailand’s military-civil government could better accept inclusion if they are convinced of its economic advantages
- The research is of interest for other medium high developed multi-ethnic societies promoting, or with the option of promoting, social, economic, and political inclusion along ethnic lines, in Southeast Asia and also globally
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to ASEAN
These insights were made available thanks to the support of ASEAN, who are committed to the dissemination of knowledge for all.
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Understanding the Ethnic Inequality of the Thai Lao through Perspectives on Promoting Social Inclusion Policy in Thailand in Accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2
Cite this brief: Draper, John. 'Understanding the Ethnic Inequality of the Thai Lao through Perspectives on Promoting Social Inclusion Policy in Thailand in Accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2'. Acume. https://www.acume.org/r/understanding-the-ethnic-inequality-of-the-thai-lao-through-perspectives-on-promoting-social-inclusion-policy-in-thailand-in-accordance-with-un-sustainable-development-goal-10-2/
Brief created by: Dr John Draper | Year brief made: 2022
Original research:
- P. K., Draper, J., & D. S., ‘Understanding the Ethnic Inequality of the Thai Lao through Perspectives on Promoting Social Inclusion Policy in Thailand in Accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2’ 28(2) (pp. 232–251) https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2021.2003191. – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630.2021.2003191
Research brief:
The research examines the differences between a primarily Bangkok Establishment sample and a middle class Thai Lao educator sample on the socioeconomic and political inclusion of the Thai Lao, who face unacknowledged structural inequalities. Furthermore, it prescribes policies to promote inclusion.
It has been previously found that there exist large horizontal structural inequalities between different ethnic groups in Thailand, i.e., exclusion along socioeconomic and political lines, and this research tries to understand why these exist, in areas such as education outcomes, in the case of the Thai Lao.
The Thai Lao are the largest ethnic minority group in Thailand. However, the Thai Lao ethnic group are not recognised by the Thai state, which means their official inclusion is difficult.
As an example of social exclusion, the Thai Lao encounter daily racial prejudice due to their looks, accent, and culture, etc. Notably, Thai Lao women are regarded as the opposite of beautiful due to the Thai conceptualisation of beauty.
As an illustration of economic exclusion, the Thai Lao score poorly on indices like household income.
To exemplify their political exclusion, Thailand is one of the last remaining countries in the world which has centrally appointed provincial governors, and only the Central Thai possess a democratic governance structure, for the capital of the Central Thai region, Bangkok.
This was a case study which, for the first time, sought to obtain an Establishment viewpoint on the inclusion/exclusion of the Thai Lao, Thailand’s largest, if unrecognized, ethnic minority, as well as a viewpoint from a Thai Lao educator sample. While the number of contributors was low, the case study is nonetheless interesting for the breadth and depth of material collected via its survey instrument as well as the categorization of material according to the concepts of social, economic, and political inclusion.
Findings:
While this was not a quantitative study, 69.5% of the ‘Establishment’ sampled disagreed with the need/desirability of practices to promote the inclusion of the Thai-Lao ethnic group, with the common themes being that the Thai Lao do not exist or that the Thai Lao do exist but are not excluded.
60.8% of the ‘Local government education administrators’ sample agreed with the need/desirability of practices to promote inclusion, with the most common theme being the need for greater decentralization.
Advice:
The larger goal should be to attain democratically elected provincinal governors for each region who could guarantee more political inclusion of minority ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Thai Lao
While UN agencies promoting inclusion such as the UNDP and UNESCO cannot openly support Thai political parties in favour of political decentralization, they should openly support the principle of establishing democratically elected provincial governors, as in most other postcolonial societies worldwide
In order to reduce prejudice against the Thai Lao community, there needs to be active promotion of Thai Lao and Laos literature, culture, music and clothing, etc
- , in line with ASEAN’s Socioeconomic Pillar, to ensure greater social inclusion.
Campaigns against racial prejudice against the Thai Lao (and other ethnic minorities) are also necessary
Thailand’s military-civil government could better accept inclusion if they are convinced of its economic advantages
The research is of interest for other medium high developed multi-ethnic societies promoting, or with the option of promoting, social, economic, and political inclusion along ethnic lines, in Southeast Asia and also globally