‘We Still Exist’: The Social Suffering and Social Movement of Singkhon, the Siamese Diaspora Living on the Thai-Myanmar Border

Abstract

This ethnographic study explores the life histories of 12 key informants of Siamese descent who were living in Myanmar but illegally fled into Thailand following civil unrest and thus became a diaspora in their motherland. The study was conducted from 2018 to 2022 in the Singkhon diaspora community of Ban Rai Krao village near the Thai-Myanmar border, in Prachuap Kiri Khan province, Thailand. It used the Critical Medical Anthropology (CMA) perspective, the concept of social suffering, and borderland anthropology to illustrate the traumatic experiences of the Singkhon and their participation in social movements for citizenship rights, land ownership and, particularly, public healthcare access. Although they have cooperated with Thai Nationality Reintegration Networks for decades, they have run into difficulties as a result of power relations within capitalism and bureaucratic delays. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic made it more difficult for those without ID cards to access government assistance and healthcare.