Kanokkarn Mueangkaew
ABSTRACT
This article investigates the negotiation of ethnic identity and cultural resilience among the Morakha ethnic group, a transborder community displaced from Myanmar to Western Thailand due to protracted political unrest and forced migration. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Sangkhla Buri District, the study examines how the Morakha sustain and adapt intangible cultural heritage and localized knowledge systems, including foodways, embroidery, ritual ceremonies, and oral traditions, amid structural marginalization and assimilationist state policies. Utilizing theoretical frameworks from border studies, cultural rights discourse, and community cultural wealth, the paper argues that the Morakha’s symbolic resistance and the strategic deployment of localized social capital function as critical mechanisms for asserting identity and ensuring cultural continuity. By foregrounding the lived experiences of one of Thailand’s most recently recognized ethnic minorities, this research contributes to broader global debates on border citizenship, the cultural rights of marginalized groups, and the resilience of transborder communities navigating complex geopolitical landscapes shaped by nationalism and globalization.
