Abstract

Bangkok has throughout its 226 year history been a city of multiple ethnic minorities. Over much of that history the most important of those minorities in terms of numbers, economic impact, and cultural influence has been the Chinese. But the Chinese have themselves been divided among a number of distinct ethnic communities. Among them, the Hokkien and Taechiu long engaged in a bitter rivalry, with the latter eventually rising to precedence. That victory was short-lived, however, as the Thai state pursued a vigorous assimilationist policy that succeeded in greatly diffusing Taechiu ethnicity. In reviewing the history of the Taechiu struggle for self-realization within the Thai state and in rivalry with the Hokkien, the Taechiu settlement at Sampheng stands as a tangible symbol of ethnic persistence and adaptation. The story of Sampheng's rise from adversity to economic pre-eminence, followed by its marginalization in the shadow of Taechiu cultural integration into the Thai nation-state, offers an exceptional counterpoint to the many tales of ethnic violence and tragedy that punctuate the pages of Southeast Asian history.

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