4 days ago
Ethnic law a small win
Three days before the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on Aug 9, parliament finally passed a law to protect ethnic minorities' way of life. For Thailand's indigenous communities, which have fought for this law for decades, this is a bittersweet victory.
Its official name, the Ethnic Groups' Way of Life Protection and Promotion Act, omits the words "indigenous peoples" in the original draft spearheaded by the National Assembly of Indigenous Peoples. Nationalist politicians claimed Thailand has no indigenous peoples, and the term "ethnic groups" already covers the hill tribes.
It does not. Most other ethnic groups in Thailand enjoy full citizenship and better living conditions. Many indigenous communities remain stateless, landless, and trapped in poverty.
The erasure reflects the state's refusal to recognise cultural diversity. The education system indoctrinates the belief that Thailand belongs to the "Thai race". In this narrative, hill tribe members are outsiders, forest destroyers, drug traffickers, and national security threats. This prejudice enables forest authorities to evict forest communities that have lived there for generations.
The bill's provision on the creation of "cultural protection zones" was also watered down. These zones would allow traditional ways of life, such as eco-friendly rotational farming, to continue without being treated as crimes. They could ease the long-running land conflicts between forest agencies and the hill tribes' peoples in protected forests. But opponents branded them a separatist threat, claiming they would put these communities "above the law". In truth, they would integrate their traditional knowledge into official conservation efforts.
Although this provision remains, a cultural protection zone can only be established with approval from forest authorities. A near impossibility.
The National Assembly of Ethnic Peoples, to be set up under the bill and funded by the state, will be the main platform for communities to protect their cultures and push for policy change. The law also calls for nationwide data collection on ethnic groups as a basis for policymaking and public participation. These are real gains.
Still, the limitations are clear. Stateless people remain excluded because the law defines ethnic groups as Thai nationals. Land rights conflicts remain unresolved. Forest officials keep their sweeping powers. The nationalist ideology that denies Thailand's cultural plurality remains intact.
That said, the law matters. For the first time, indigenous and ethnic communities have legal standing in national policy and an official platform to speak out. They have achieved this through years of organised struggle, building alliances with other ethnic groups, learning to navigate the political system, and refusing to be silenced.
Thailand is home to more than 60 ethnic groups, with a total number of six million people, or one-sixth of the population. Many live in forests, and their traditional knowledge is vital to protecting our ecosystems. Around the world, indigenous peoples are recognised as frontline defenders of the environment. In Thailand, they have had to fight simply to exist in the eyes of the law.
This bill is not the end of that fight. Prejudice still poisons public attitudes. The forest bureaucracy still sees local communities as threats to its authority. But this law gives indigenous peoples legal tools they have never had before. Although small, it is an important step solid enough to build on.
