This is a study of a Hmong visage in a National Park in Chiangmai Province. Theresearcher lived in the visage for one year to collect data by using indepthinterview and palticipant observation methods. Ban Phu Suay, the village under study, is a heterogeous village, comprising ofpeople of various origins, refigious beliefs and economic interests. The Hmong is thelargest ethnic group in term of population and economic and political domination ofthe village. Other groups are Yunnanese Chinese, local Thai (Khon Muang), Thai, Karenand several foreign aliens. Different religious beliefs and practices are Buddhism,Christianity, Islam and spirit worship. Such differences, however, do not lead toopen conflicts. They are, to a certain degree, interdependent and have mutual vestedinterests in trade, tourism, village administration and any interest brought fromoutside through the process of modernization. The Hmong people, however, manage tohold both economic and political power over other groups. To gain economic and political dominance, the Hmong people utilize theirtraditional symbols and rituals to strengthen their internal cohesion. They are allrelated through kinship and are conscious of being a Hmong as an ethnic identity.They have also been able to adopt modern symbols and practices to enhance theireconomic and political interest within and outside the village. They hold all seatsin the local administration. Some of them even converted to Buddhism to enjoy beingaccepted by the more powerful Khon Muang the majority lowland Thai people. Thus, onecan see, on the one hand, the process of "retribalization" whereby the Hmong peoplehave successfully maintained their Hmong identity to define their collective economicand political interest. On the other hand, it is through the process of"detribalization", one can see the adaptation of modern symbo]s such as an acceptanceof rules and regulations imposed from the state, modern education system,citizenship, and royalty to the monarch all of which the Hmong people havemanipulated to legitimize their domination of economic and political interest in theeyes of other groups and also in a wider social and cultural context of Thai society. Through such processes, the Hmong people conciously express three differrentethnic identities. They are Hmong when in the village, "highlander Thai" whenconfronting with the state, and finally "Khon Muang" or Chinese when in Bangkok orany area outside the northern region. The study shows how the Hmong peopleeffectively make use of their traditional symbols as well as modern symbols incompeting for economic and political power within and outside the village.
