Cultural interactions among diverse ethnic groups in a frontier region of a mainstream culture: A case study of Thai Korat, Laotian, and Tai Yuan vernacular houses in the central Lamtakong watershed, Nakhon Ratchasima

Abstract

This study aims to study the conditions for the architectural form of vernacular houses of Thai Korat, Laotian, and Tai Yuan ethnic groups living in the central Lamtakong watershed. Nineteen stilt houses with the age of fifty-three to one hundred years were incorporated in the case study. Data were meticulously gathered through methods such as observation, photography, surveying, architectural drawing, three-dimensional modeling, and interviews. The analysis, conducted within the frameworks of ethnic identity and cultural diffusion, involved morphological and comparative assessments. The findings showed that the houses in the present case study could maintain their ethnic identities as can be clearly seen in the space planning and the shapes of the houses passed down from generation to generation. In addition, there was cultural acceptance among these ethnic groups through exchanging, adopting, and borrowing house construction techniques, in order to express the common traits in the larger social context in a friendly and smoother way. This phenomenon indicates that the co-existence in a multicultural society is the key that makes different ethnic groups be able to maintain their ethnic identity and live with the larger society in a friendly way. Hence, the cultural significance of stilt vernacular houses in the study area is embedded in the dynamic process of exchanging house construction techniques, fostering harmony within the broader social context. This preservation simultaneously safeguards the essential elements and key attributes of ethnic identity in architecture.