Building a Human Border: The Thai Border Patrol Police School Project in the Post–Cold War Era

Enjoying royal patronage, the school project of the Border Patrol Police contributed to the construction of a “human border” for Thailand during the Cold War. The project continues to have an impact on current struggles for identity among the country’s highland minorities. Historical and anthropological analysis suggests that the hierarchical integration of the border population into the Thai nation resulted in a tension between the national and ethnic identities of the country’s highland minorities. This tension challenges the sustainability of the modern nation-building effort of the Border Patrol Police and the Thai royal family.