The Thai-Yunnan Project

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The Thai-Yunnan Project was launched in 1987 as a consequence of relationships established during the International Conference on Thai Studies held in Canberra that year.

The intention was to direct research to the region of mainland Southeast Asia and those areas of the Peoples Republic of China, particularly Yunnan, which have had long cultural, economic and social relations with each other. In addition the project brought together those at the ANU who had interests in that region.

Initial funding was given for a two-year post to which Dr Scott Bamber was appointed. He conducted research in the Tai Lue-speaking region of Sipsongpanna (Xishuangbanna) and in north Thailand. This work has been incorporated by Dr Bamber in many papers written by him.

In addition, we were funded for a translator to help with the publication of Chinese materials in the Newsletter and some secretarial assistance. This funding ended in 1990.

The Newsletter began publishing in March 1988 and has completed thirty issues. It has an international readership and international contributors. We have published substantive, original articles, as well as translations, items of news, sometimes from other publications, book reviews and correspondence. Four-hundta and fifty copies are printed and distributed free of charge. A digest of highlights from previous issues of the Newsletter has now been published (The Tai World, see Publications below) and it has been replaced firstly by the Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin from 2001 to 2005 and since then by the Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin Board (above) on which articles of interest are placed as they become available.

In addition to Dr Bamber's field research, the late Gehan Wijeyewardene did periods of field research in the border regions of Dehong and Sipsongpanna (PRC),northern Thailand, Manerplaw (Karen National Union headquarters) and Kengtung in Burma. Nick Tapp, currently guiding the project, also has field experience of minority areas in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China.

Three students were directly associated with the project in early days, Cholthira Satyawadhna who worked on Mon-Khmer-speaking groups in Yunnan and Thailand and has completed her PhD; Niti Pawakapan wrote a thesis on the town of Khun Yuam, a border town in north Thailand in which three Tai languages and Karen are in regular use; and Andrew Walker, whose study of transport on the Thai-Lao-Burmese borders has recently been published, and who remains associated with the project. Since 2000 graduate students who have directly benefited from the Project or been associated with it other ways include Antonella Diana, James Haughton, Wasan Panyagaew, Sarinda Singh, Thararat Chareonsonthichai, Warren Mayes, Nguyen van Suu, Runako Samata, Kathy Zhang, Aura Yen, Nich Farrelly, Holly High, Mar Mar Khin, Bai Zhihong and Li Quanmin. The project has been host to a number of visitors, many of them from academic institutions in Kunming and Chiangmai. Recent visitors have included Amporn Jirratikorn (Luce Fellowship, University of Texas – Austin) and Aranya Siriphon (Chiangmai University), Yin Shaoting (Anthropology, Yunnan University) and Naran Bilik (Beijing Central University of Ethnic Nationalities).

Despite the sad deaths within the past decade of several outstanding figures associated with the Thai-Yunnan Project; first its founder Gehan Wijeyewardene (see his student Ananda Rajah's obituary article 'Gehan Wijeyewardene 1932-2000' in The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 2/1. May 2001; 89-108), then Ananda's own sad death in 2007 (see his fellow student Andrew Walker's announcement of this on the 'New Mandala' blog, 14 January 2007), Peter Hinton (Bulletin 6, 2004), and Ted Chapman (Bulletin 2, 2001), this new cohort of graduate alumni and associated visitors and publications will serve to continue the Thai-Yunnan Project in new and always evolving forms.

Within the next two years, following the second Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network on 'Asian Borderlands' to be held at Chiangmai University 5-7 November 2010, we hope to organise a major conference on the region.

BULLETIN

Issues of the Thai-Yunnan Bulletin are available in PDF. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, click here to download.

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 7, March 2005

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 6, Jun3 2004

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 5, November, 2003

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 4, February, 2003

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 3, August 2002

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 2, November 2001

Thai-Yunnan Project Bulletin 1, July 2001

SEMINARS

The project has organized a number of seminars, such as the early:

Contemporary developments on Burma's borders 21 November, 1992. Proceedings published in Newsletter No. 19

Southeast Asian Borders 28-30 October, 1993. A full report is published in Newsletter No. 23.

Disenchantment and Re-Enchantment: Religion in contemporary Southeast Asia. A report has been published in Newsletter No. 31. Our programme of talks and seminars continues.

PUBLICATIONS

The project has published or been associated with the following books:

Tapp, Nicholas and Andrew Walker (eds) (2001), The Tai world: a digest of articles from the Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter. Canberra: The Thai-Yunnan Project, Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies.

Gordon Downer, The Miao-Yao World : Selected Papers in Linguistics (with the Department of Anthropology, ANU, 2004).

Yos Santasombat, Lak Chang : A Reconstruction of Thai Identity in Daikong (with Pandanus Books, 2004).

Georges Condominas (1990), From Lawa to Mon, from Saa' to Thai: historical and anthropological aspects of Southeast Asian Social spaces. Translated by Stephanie Anderson, Maria Magannon and Gehan Wijeyewardene. Edited by Gehan Wijeyewardene with the assistance of Judith Wilson and Paula Harris. An Occasional Paper of the Department of Anthropology, RSPacS.

Gehan Wijeyewardene (ed.) (1990), Ethnic groups across national boundaries in mainland Southeast Asia Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

John Furnivall (1991), The fashioning of Leviathan. Edited by Gehan Wijeyewardene. An Occasional Paper of the Department of Anthropology, RSPacS.

Gehan Wijeyewardene and E.C. Chapman (eds.) (1993), Patterns and Illusions: Thai history and thought, 2nd ed. An Occasional Paper of the Department of Anthropology, RSPacS. (Originally published 1992 in association with the Richard Davis Fund and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.)

In addition we have

• Thai-Yunnan Bibliography (this project is abandoned for lack of funds)
  
• Richard Davis Data Base
  
• Back issues of Thai-Yunnan Newsletter
  
• Network of Thai-Yunnan collaborators (established, but also merged with the Thai Laos and Cambodia Studies Group; http://tlc.sas.upenn.edu)

These resources may be accessed online from the Coombspapers FTP Archives SEE ALSO NEW BLOG ON SE ASIA – NEW MANDALA, established in 2006 by Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly; http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala

For more information, please email Fay Castles at anthropology.rspas@anu.edu.au