Kuomintang Soldiers and Their Descendants in Northern Thailand: An Ethnographic Study

This research explores the community and the life of the Yunnanese Chinese comprising KMT soldiers and their descendants in northern Thailand. By describing three generations of these villagers, the article shows how the original Kuomintang soldiers and their descendants have adapted to life in northern Thailand, and become a category of Chinese there. Despite the influence of Thai culture especially on the young, certain aspects of Chinese tradition have remained important for their cultural identity, while Chinese education reinforces the socialization of Chinese cultural values.