This article presents a chronology of the growth of the concept of Indigeneity in Thailand, analysing the particular ways in which the global Indigenous movement has taken root in the country. In Thailand, transnational support networks and the opening of political associational space played key roles in facilitating the growth of, first, a regional, and later a national Indigenous movement during the 1980s and early 2000s, respectively. Indigenous Peoples in Thailand are asserting their identity by drawing on a new concept of Indigeneity being promoted by the United Nations and other international advocacy organisations that identifies them not only as first peoples, but crucially as colonised or oppressed peoples. Indigenous Peoples in Thailand are further asserting both their cultural distinctiveness and their compatibility with the Thai nation. The Indigenous movement in Thailand differs from movements in Australia, Canada, and the United States where Indigenous Peoples must perform their cultural distinctiveness to maintain political recognition, and in turn are accused of being not different enough when exercising their rights. In Thailand, rather, Indigenous Peoples are accused of being not Thai enough in their efforts to push for any political recognition. While the Thai government denies the relevance of the concept of Indigeneity to Thailand, it is clear that the Indigenous movement in Thailand has grown since the early 2000s. In fact, state policies between the 1950s and early 2000s contributed toward the scaling-up of a pan-Hill tribe identity among the core groups associated with the movement.

In this article, I discuss the concept of Indigeneity as it is being localized in post-2000s Thailand by a coalition of ethnic minorities. Their claim of Indigeneity is unique in purporting a state-based ontology that identifies the rise of the modern Thai state with that of their Indigeneity, reflecting the problematic nature in Thailand of claims to first peoples' status. The Thai state has long perceived of these yet-to-be-recognized Indigenous Peoples as "illegal migrants." Indigenous Peoples are working to assert not only their cultural distinctiveness but also their compatibility with the nation, especially via public performances of their loyalty to the Thai king. While their performances of Indigeneity are necessarily conforming to Thai nationalist expectations of ethnicity and belonging, Indigenous Peoples are reworking those expectations in a manner allowing them to get their own interpretations of history and systems of value recognized and distributed to larger audiences. [Indigeneity, performance, cunning of the unrecognized, royalist nationalism, Thailand] RESUMEN En este artículo, discuto el concepto de indigeneidad como ha sido localizado en la Tailandia posterior al 2000 por una coalición de minoríasétnicas. Su reclamación de indigeneidad esúnica en implicar una ontología basada en el estado que identifica el crecimiento del estado moderno tailandés con aquel de su indigeneidad, reflejando la naturaleza problemática en Tailandia de las reclamaciones al estatus de los Primeros Pueblos. El estado tailandés hapercibido por largo tiempo a estos pueblos indígenas aún a-ser-reconocidos como "migrantes ilegales". Los pueblos indígenas han trabajado para afirmar no sólo su unicidad cultural pero también su compatibilidad con la nación, especialmente a través de presentaciones públicas de su lealtad al rey tailandés. Mientras sus presentaciones de indigeneidad se han necesariamente conformado con las expectativas nacionalistas tailandesas de etnicidad y pertenencia, los indígenas han retrabajado esas expectativas de una manera que les permite lograr sus propias interpretaciones de la historia y los sistemas de valor reconocidos y distribuidos a audiencias mayores. [indigeneidad, presentación, lo artificioso de lo no reconocido, nacionalismo monárquico, Tailandia] º·¤ÑÂè Í º·¤ÇÒÁ©ºÑ º¹Õ é ¼Ù é à¢Õ ¹ÍÀÔ »ÃÒ ¶Ö §á¹Ç¤Ố¢Í §¤ÇÒÁà»ç ¹ª¹à¼è Ò¾× é ¹àÁ× Í § «Ö è §à¤Ã× Í¢è Ò¡ÅØ è ÁªÒµÔ ¾Ñ ¹¸Ø ì Êè ǹ¹é Í¡ÅØ è ÁË¹Ö è §ä´é ¹ÓÁÒãªé ã¹ »ÃÐà·Èä·ÂµÑ é §áµè ·ÈÇÃÃÉ·Õ è 2000 ª¹à¼è Ò¾× é ¹àÁ× Í §àËÅè Ò¹Õ é àÃÕ Â¡Ãé Í §¤ÇÒÁà»ç ¹ª¹à¼è Ò¾× é ¹àÁ× Í §â´ÂÍé Ò §Çè Ò ¤ÇÒÁà»ç ¹ª¹à¼è Ò¾× é ¹àÁ× Í §¢Í §à¢Òà¡Ố¢Ö é ¹ ¾Ãé ÍÁ¡Ñ º¡ÒÃà¡Ố¢Ö é ¹¢Í §ÃÑ°ä·Â à»ç ¹¡ÒÃàÃÕ Â¡Ãé Í §ÍÂè Ò §ÁÕ ÅÑ ¡É³Ð੾ÒÐ «Ö è §Êзé ͹ ¶Ö §»Ñ -ËÒ¡ÒÃàÃÕ Â¡Ãé Í § ¶Ö §¤ÇÒÁà»ç ¹ª¹´Ñ é §à´Ô Áã¹»ÃÐà·Èä·Â ·Ñ ȹ¤µÔ ¢Í §ÃÑ°ä·Âµè Í¡ÅØ è ÁàËÅè Ò¹Õ é ÁÕ ÁÒÍÂè Ò §ÂÒǹҹ«Ö è §äÁè à¤ÂÂÍÁÇè Ҿǡà¢Òà»ç ¹ª¹à¼è Ò¾× é ¹àÁ× Í § áµè à»ç ¹à¾Õ  §ªÒǵè Ò §´é ÒÇ·Õ è à¢é ÒÁÒÍÂÙ è ã¹»ÃÐà·È ä·Ââ´Â¼Ố¡®ËÁÒ ª¹à¼è Ò¾× é ¹àÁ× Í §àËÅè Ò¹Õ é äÁè à¾Õ  §áµè áÊ´ §ÍÍ¡ ¶Ö §¤ÇÒÁà»ç ¹àÍ¡ÅÑ ¡É³ì ·Ò ...

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