The Mlabri and Land Mines in Northern Thailand

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Published: May 23, 2026
Keywords:
Hmong Indigenous Peoples Land Mines Mlabri Northern Thailand

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Ian G. Baird
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Abstract

The Mlabri are an Austroasiatic language-speaking Indigenous group who formerly lived as hunter-gatherers in the mountainous forests of northern Thailand and northwestern Laos. This research note examines how a Mlabri group in present-day Phayao province was forced to abandon forest life in the 1970s amid armed conflict between the Thai military and the military-wing of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). The deployment of anti-personnel land mines by both sides generated pervasive fear, precipitating displacement, the collapse of mobile subsistence practices, and the eventual resettlement to permanent communities.

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How to Cite
Baird, I. G. (2026). The Mlabri and Land Mines in Northern Thailand. The Journal of the Siam Society, 114(1), 233–240. retrieved from https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/296026
Issue
Vol. 114 No. 1 (2026): Special Edition: Gavampati
Section
Research Notes
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

References

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