RCSD : The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development

Panel Discussion "Draft Order: Political Effects & Implications"
2024-02-28 13:00 - 15:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
All are invited to a public discussion on Wednesday, 28 February for a panel discussion starting 1 pm on the political effect and implications of the new Myanmar military draft decree. Join Aung Zaw from The Irrawaddy, Dr. Sirada Khemanitthathai from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, and Dr. Surachanee Sriyai, visiting fellow at the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute for a talk and sharing session at the Subaltern Meeting room of RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

Broken Dreams screening & "From Across the River" exhibition launch
2024-03-01 16:30 - 20:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Dhani Bhaholyodin Conference Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200
This Friday, 1 March at 430 pm all are invited to a screening of Broken Dreams with director’s talk, along with a violin performance from Joy House and the launch of the “From Across the River” exhibition. The screening and exhibition will be held at the Dhani Phaholyothin conference room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University with the support of Asia Justice and Rights.
Broken Dreams is a feature-length omnibus film made up of 9 short films that portray the impact of the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. The film covers a wide range of experiences, from the loss of loved ones to the suppression of freedom of expression. Each story is told from a unique perspective, and together they provide a powerful and moving portrait of the ongoing crisis in Myanmar. The film is a follow-up to the critically acclaimed Myanmar Diaries, which won several awards at international film festivals. Broken Dreams builds on the success of its predecessor, offering a more in-depth look at the human cost of the coup. The film is also notable for the fact that most of the filmmakers, actors, and crew are in exile to avoid junta’s persecution for their participation in Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.
“From Across the River” is an exhibition showcasing the journey of artist trainers and their students who fled to Mae Sot after the Myanmar military coup. Through paintings, drawings, and hand-sewn banners, it portrays the impact of the conflict on civilians, depicting air strikes, political prisoners, and displaced persons. The art reflects both the suffering and resilience of Myanmar people in their uprising against military rule. Joy House in Mae Sot offers free Art and Wellness classes, bridging communities through teaching and showcasing artwork, music, and dance to raise awareness of the crisis. Supported by the Foundation for Education and Development, Joy House stands as a beacon of healing and resilience amidst adversity.

Exhibition: Thread Under Threat
2024-03-08 16:00 - 2024-03-27 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Baan Tuek Art Center, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Following the first display in Bangkok titled “Thread Under Threat: Myanmar Women Out of the 3-Year Coup Shadow,” the exhibition in Chiang Mai will be held under the name “Thread Under Threat: Invincible Myanmar Women Who Dare!” from 8 to 27 March 2024 at the Baan Tuek Art Center. The exhibition is organized by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Thanakha International Gender Tekkatho and SEA Junction.
Well-known Myanmar artist Chuu Wai’s solo exhibition is born out of solidarity with the opposition movement in Myanmar that has been fighting for democracy since the coup d’état led by General Min Aung Hlaing on 1 February 2021. It resonates with the resilience of the people of Myanmar, especially the women among them. For three years now, Myanmar people have been demanding the restoration of democracy and the rule of law and the release of the imprisoned leaders and all other political in spite of the military’s use of lethal force. As of February 2024, 4,572 people are confirmed killed by the junta and a total of 26,171 people have been arrested, with 20,166 currently detained including more than 5,000 women. The number of displaced people in the country and across borders is over 2 million and growing. Amidst the failure of the international community to pay attention and take action, people are not giving up, continuing their support for the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) in exile and counting on their steadfast opposition and the armed resistance by the People Defence Force and the Ethnic Armies gaining ground to eventually win the revolution.
The exhibition displays the powerful portrayal of women figures in Chuu Wai’s paintings celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March. The paintings with mixed material shine a spotlight on the strength, resilience, and indomitable spirit of women who have stood against the oppressive forces of both patriarchal and authoritarian values. These figures become symbols of defiance, challenging preconceptions and inspiring a movement towards a more just and democratic society.
More generally, the artworks radiate the resilient spirit and unique culture of Myanmar as a resource to draw upon in the current context. Utilizing handwoven fabric, vintage photos, and newspaper clippings, the exhibition celebrates the country’s uniqueness while also unveiling and challenging the complex tapestry meticulously woven by those in power through education, religion, and traditional normative systems directed at perpetuating an authoritarian and patriarchal system, which people are set to change.

Roundtable Book Discussion: "Outsourcing the Polity: Non-state Welfare, Inequality and Resistance in Myanmar"
2024-05-16 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Please join RCSD for a roundtable discussion on resilience and resistance in Myanmar: ‘Outsourcing the Polity: Non-State Welfare, Inequality and Resistance in Myanmar’ on Thursday, 16 May in the Sub-Altern Room starting at 1:30 pm.

Please register for the event via this online form.

‘Outsourcing the Polity‘ (Cornell, 2023) offers a new account of social outsourcing and non-state social provisioning in post-independence Myanmar. Grounded in extensive research during Myanmar’s decade of partial civilian rule (2011–2021), the book examines how ideals and practices of non-state welfare – charity, philanthropy and social provisioning beyond the state – can both sustain democratic resistance and entrench inequality over time.

In this roundtable Gerard McCarthy and RCSD Fellows & CMU friends will explore the book in light of the extraordinary resilience of Myanmar’s revolutionary movement since the 2021 military coup. In particular the panel will consider how legacies of autocratic market reform and austerity have shaped the material and ideological basis of the ongoing struggle against dictatorship in Myanmar.

Myanmar Interactive Dialogue #7: Enhancing Protection for Myanmar Communities in Thailand: Understanding the Thai Context
2024-06-21 15:00 - 16:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Myanmar Interactive Dialogues: Dialogue # 7: Enhancing Protection for Myanmar Communities in Thailand: Understanding the Thai Context
The Myanmar Interactive Dialogue (MID) sessions, initiated by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), aim to create a platform for academics, students, research fellows, and practitioners to engage in open dialogue about Myanmar’s political trends and issues.
This upcoming 7th MID will focus on understanding the Thai context to enhance protection for Myanmar communities in Thailand. Two distinguished Thai speakers will provide an overview and detailed perspectives on Thailand’s political, social, and economic dynamics, followed by insights from two prominent Myanmar speakers. This dialogue seeks to foster a deeper understanding of current contexts and share innovative solutions and lessons learned for enhancing protection.
The session will include opening remarks, panel discussions from both Thai and Myanmar perspectives, and an interactive dialogue among participants. The event targets academics, researchers, students, and practitioners interested in Southeast Asian studies, aiming to provide actionable insights and foster resilience across diverse Myanmar communities in Thailand.
You are cordially invited to this seventh interactive dialogue.
Note: It will be an onsite event.

Mekong River changes during the dry season: from Chiang Rai to Northeastern Cambodia
2024-07-08 13:30 - 15:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to join a graduate seminar: “Mekong River changes during the dry season, from Chiang Rai to Northeastern Cambodia” with Ian Baird, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, presenting his preliminary research findings. Join us from 1:30 to 3 pm on Monday, 8 July 2024 at the Subaltern room, RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

Building a Human Border: The Thai Border Patrol Police Project in the Post-Cold War Era
2024-07-24 14:00 - 16:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
All are invited to a public lecture “Building a Human Border: The Thai Border Patrol Police Project in the Post-Cold War Era” on Wed 24 July from 2-4 pm at the Subaltern room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Dr. Sinae Hyun is a research professor at the Institute for East Asian Studies at Sogang University, South Korea, specializing in the Cold War, nationalism, and Southeast Asian studies. Her doctoral research surveyed the history of the Thai Border Patrol Police and showed how the Thai ruling elite used American cold war policies for their cause. Her book based on the research entitled “Indigenizing the Cold War: The Border Patrol Police and Nation-Building in Thailand” was published by the University of Hawaii Press in April 2023. She is currently researching the histories of American Protestant missionaries in Southeast Asia and their dealings with overlapping empires of Britain, China, and “others.”

Public Lecture: Acoustic Ecology
2024-07-31 13:30 - 16:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
A talk with Csaba Hajnóczy, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest. He will introduce “acoustic ecology,” a concept born about half a century ago, but the observation of sonic phenomena in the context of human and non-human environments is much older. As a multidisciplinary territory it is strongly related to acoustic communication, psychoacoustics, bioacoustics, sound art and other fields.
Csaba Hajnóczy will give an introduction, presenting the foundations and history (R. Murray Schafer), the characteristics of the soundscape (Steven Feld), the basics of acoustic communication (Barry Truax), a relating Hungarian project (“Szigetköz” region), and indigenous practices of ecological listening.
This event is free and open to all, with a follow up hands-on workshop in August on acoustic ecological practice to be announced soon.

ICBMS4
2024-08-02 08:30 - 2024-08-04 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Uniserv, 239 Nimmanahaeminda Road, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
The International Conference on Burma /Myanmar Studies (ICBMS) committee would like to invite submissions for ICBMS4, which will be hosted at Chiang Mai University on the 2nd – 4th August 2024, titled: ‘Assemblages of the Future: Rethinking Communities after the State’.
Three years after the coup and amid desperate circumstances, the people of Myanmar have responded with renewed thought and action to reimagine the present and future for themselves and their communities. As it has become clear that many traditional forms of authority have had their power eroded – notably the inability of the Myanmar “state” to carry out basic functions – such emergent realities present both opportunities and challenges.
The “assemblages” of the future refers to new “entangled ways of life,” what Anna Tsing calls the “mosaic of temporal rhythms and spatial arcs” as taking place in Myanmar of 2024. This framing asks scholars to situate their work within this contested reality, and ask critical questions about the emergent future. In particular, this refers to the complex rhythms of Myanmar’s social reality, where many aspects of culture, power and life have been transformed after the coup, yet others remain stubbornly intact – for better or worse. In simple terms, in this state of flux, how do we understand how the people of Myanmar are acting in the present to (re)assemble their future commons in its various forms?
ICBM4 in Chiang Mai therefore seeks to foster academic debate and facilitate dialogue to progress the scholarly understanding of what is happening in Myanmar. We would like to invite individual abstracts as well as panel proposals, roundtable proposals from interested academics, researchers, graduate students, and professionals, as well as practitioners engaged in the field of Burma/Myanmar studies. While we welcome submissions on any aspect relating to the study of Burma/Myanmar, we particularly encourage scholars to consider how their work speaks to this contested present and future, as highlighted through these suggested themes:
Conference Themes
Negotiating New Realities: Power, Practice, and Praxis

Emergent Governance and Civilian Protection
Multipolarity in a Contested Region
Resilience and Localisation in Service Provision: Education, Healthcare, and Religion
Energy, Infrastructure and Sustainable Development

Identity, Territory, and Belonging amidst Conflict and Climate Change

Ethnicity and Territoriality
Border Politics & Transnationalism
Migration, Forced Displacement and Refugees
Livelihoods, Agriculture and Food Systems

Uncovering Lived Experiences and Marginalised Narratives

Nascent, Marginal and Informal Economies
Inequality and Empowerment
Gender, Sexuality and Power
Civil Disobedience, Social Movements and Everyday Life

Remaking Knowledge and Finding Truth in Revolution

Discourses of Peace, Conflict, and Justice
Propaganda, Media and Information Landscapes
Arts, Literature and Popular Culture
Research Ethics, Decolonization and Methodological Challenges

For further information, please contact the ICBMS IV Secretariat at icbms.cmu@gmail.com
Important Dates:
Deadline of Abstract & Panel proposal submission: 30 April 2024
Announcement of accepted abstract and proposal: 31 May 2024
Early bird registration: 1 June 2024
Deadline for full-paper submission: 30 June 2024
Registration of Participants (Audience): TBA
Conference Dates: 2 – 4 August 2024
About ICBMS
In July 2015, Chiang Mai University hosted the first International Conference on Burma / Myanmar Studies (ICBMS) entitled ‘Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges.’ The second edition of ICBMS was held at Mandalay University, co-hosted with Chiang Mai University in 2018, bringing together 543 participants from 29 countries, with 48 sessions of paper presentation and 7 roundtables. The third and largest ICBMS (to date) was delayed, finally being held as a hybrid event in March 2021. Over 1000 participants joined from across the globe under the title of ‘Myanmar / Burma in the Changing South East Asia Context.’

Listening Session: Acoustic Ecology
2024-08-13 14:00 - 16:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Dhani Bhaholyodin Conference Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200
All are invited to join a public listening session of the results of the Acoustic Ecology sound workshop (currently under way), documenting audioscapes and the sound environment in and around Chiang Mai with Dr. Csaba Hajnoczy from Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest Hungary. Please join us from 2-5 pm on Tuesday, 13 August in the Dhani Bhaholyodin Conference Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University

Federalism and Decentralization in Myanmar: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective
2024-11-06 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
The Coup by the Myanmar military in February 2021 has resulted in renewed calls for a fundamental reform of the political system, which includes the abolition of special privileges for the Tatmadaw, a focus on democratic governance principles and the introduction of a federal union of equals. This presentation will look at the situation in Myanmar before the military coup and assess to what extent, a) Myanmar was a decentralised / federal state under the 2008 Constitution; b) how discussions in the Union Peace Conference dealt with the issue of federalism and c) How developments have sped up since the military coup, and how new visions on federalism are evolving amongst the different stakeholders. By doing so, the presentation will focus on the current situation, and the diverse perceptions of federalism amongst a variety of groups. Finding compromise and agreement will be challenging – and the presentation will highlight how the situation might get worse, before it can get better and a new constitutional framework can be agreed upon.

Speaker Bio
Dr Sören Keil is a Senior Teaching and Research Fellow at the Chair for International Politics of the University of Passau in Germany. Before that, until September 2024 he was the Academic Head of the International Research and Consulting Centre at the Institute of Federalism of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He previously worked at Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK. His research focuses on institutional design in post-conflict societies, federalism and decentralisation, as well as conflict resolution and power-sharing. He has published widely on comparative federalism and power-sharing, with his latest book titled “Power-sharing in the Global South – Patterns, Practices and Potential” (Palgrave, with Allison McCulloch and Eduardo Aboultaif).

Falling in love with artificial companions
2024-12-06 10:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join us on Friday, 6 December 2024 from 10:00 – 12:00 at the 4th Floor Meeting Room, Operations Building of the Faculty of Social Sciences for “Falling in love with artificial companions: with Professor of Philosophy Tõnu Viik, Rector of Tallinn University, Estonia.
Abstract:
Is it possible for human beings to establish romantic relationships with robots? What kind of otherness, or alterity, will be construed in the process of falling in love with a robot? Can a robotic companion mean more than being a tool for house-work, a caretaker, an aid of self-gratification, or a sex-doll? Phenomenological analysis of love experience suggests that romantic feelings necessarily include experiencing the alterity of the partner as an affective
subjectivity that freely, willingly, and passionately commits to its partner. The romantic commitment is expected to stem from the sentient inner selves of the lovers, which is one of the features that robots are lacking. Thus the artificial alterity might disengage our romantic aspirations, and, as argued by many, will make them morally inferior to intraspecies love affairs. The current analysis will restrain from ethical considerations, however, and will focus on whether robots can in principle elicit human feelings of love.

Rare Earth Mining in Mai Ja Yang, Myanmar: Public Seminar
2025-01-31 14:30 - 16:30 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Room 3201, Department of Social Science and Development, Room 3201, Department of Social Science and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Academic researchers, media outlets, and international non-governmental organizations have investigated the issue of rare earth mining in Myanmar’s Kachin State, which borders China’s Yunnan Province. According to their findings, rare earth mining has caused irreversible environmental and social impacts. These investigations have also examined the role of the New Democratic Army–Kachin (NDA-K) in rare earth mining activities in the Pangwa area of Chipwi Township. o expand on the knowledge of rare earth mining in Myanmar, we explore how the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/A) has governed rare earth mining in Mai Ja Yang, the second-largest town in KIO-controlled territory. We argue that the KIO/A has integrated rare earth mining governance into its broader narrative and efforts of nation-building. This governance has yielded mixed results. Economically, some villages have supported mining activities, while others have rejected them due to concerns about environmental impacts. Neither stance, however, has prioritized the aspirations of Kachin nation-building. Against this backdrop, we suggest that the KIO’s governance of rare earth mining should be transparent and inclusive of the diverse needs of local stakeholders. Additionally, international organizations should acknowledge and support the KIO’s role in governing natural resources responsibly.
Speakers
Seng Li (Shanan Foundation)
Ta-Wei Chu (Department of Social Science and Development, Chiang Mai University)

One Northern Thai Village in Chiang Mai: Public Lecture
2025-02-20 13:00 - 15:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to join a public lecture “One Northern Thai Village in Chiang Mai: a 40-year Rural Transition and Responses of Rural People to Opportunities” by Tetsuro Fujikura, Ph.D., Visiting Associate Professor of Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University on Thursday, 20 February 2025 at the Subaltern meeting room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
The village surveyed, Muang Kham, Pong Yeang, Mae Rim in Chiang Mai, is a quintessential northern Thai village. The life history of rural households, reconfigured in a case study, indicates that improved market accessibility has benefitted rural people. Paved roads improved accessibility for the first generation in their 50s. As laterite roads were replaced by paved roads, electricity, motorization, and a great wave of commercialization came. Moreover, information technology also provides accessibility for the second generation, the family’s primary income earners. The author discusses how households there have accumulated capital and deployed investment throughout their life history. The study describes villagers’ active response to opportunities.

Book Talk: A Sense of Place and Belonging - the Chiang Tung Borderland of Northern Southeast Asia
2025-04-30 10:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Join us on Wednesday, April 30 as Klemens Karlsson of Uppsala University and affiliated researcher at RCSD presents his book “A Sense of Place and Belonging – The Chiang Tung Borderland of Northern Southeast Asia,” published by Northern Illinois University/Cornell University Press.
This book is an interdisciplinary study of Chiang Tung (Keng Tung), a marginalized borderland between the dominant cultures of the Burmese, the Chinese, and the Siamese/Thai, and how people identify themselves as belonging to that specific place, a sense of place and belonging.
It presents the dramatic history of Chiang Tung and the Tai Khuen people in Myanmar’s Eastern Shan State, with wars and forced resettlements, but it also presents the glorious Buddhist culture of Chiang Tung with roots in Lan Na Tai and Sinhalese traditions, but with its own individuality and distinctiveness. It discusses the Buddhist tradition in a historic geopolitical context, as well as with its affinity with the cult of territorial spirits.
The book ties together myths and memories told by local people and written in local chronicles, with the unique performance of the Songkran festival which dramatizes a symbolic agreement between the Tai Khuen people and the indigenous Tai Loi (Lua/Lawa) people about the ownership of land.

Be an Entrepreneur or Stay a Farmer? The Anxiety of Specialty Coffee Value Chain Upgrading for Indigenous Smallholders in Northern Thailand
2025-07-07 13:30 - 15:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Public lecture (and coffee tasting) with Po-Tao Chang, Phd student in the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This presentation is designed for people who are interested in topics related to sustainable agriculture, indigenous peoples, coffee commodity chains, and industry in Thailand. Po-Tao Chang will present his latest research findings about the transformation of highland Arabica coffee production with (mostly) Akha people, and the revolution of the Thai (specialty) coffee industry. Briefly speaking, the Akha people have played a crucial role in expanding and upgrading both the quantity and quality of Arabica coffee production over the past two decades. There has been a dramatic number of Akha coffee producers elevating the quality and value of their coffee parchments and green beans. While some of them are becoming entrepreneurs, the uneven development of coffee production is also happening among different ethnic groups and villages. In addition, the anxiety of massive investment and the uncertainty of market transformation have also been emerging challenges for indigenous coffee smallholders in northern Thailand.

Public Seminar: "Ek Khaale" Once Upon a Time - The Rohingya, a Visual Restoration; Memory, Identity and Shared Histories
2025-07-14 10:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
For people in Myanmar (Burma), the Rohingya community’s history has been, at best, questioned, and at worst —and in reality—rejected outright. Much of the Rohingya’s visual history has been lost, confiscated or destroyed during waves of violence, forced displacement and genocide over the past 60 years. This destruction continues today. This has severely undermined ways in which the Rohingya preserve and share their collective memory, identity and history with others.

Ek Khaale is the Rohingya expression for ‘Once Upon A Time’. The project Ek Khaale was launched by award winning documentary photojournalist Greg Constantine. It is a collaborative storytelling and visual restoration project with Rohingya all over the world.

This project brings together rare and never before seen old photographs, family collections, documents, letters, illustrations and other historical materials from the past and activates them in the present. By exposing this unseen past, this project aims to share a visual portrait of the Rohingya most people have never seen before. It also challenges historical narratives and reconstructs what Burmese regimes and other communities have spent decades trying to destroy.

In this special lecture, Greg will talk about the history of this groundbreaking project, the use of research-based archival work, and the significance of the project for the Rohingya community and other communities from Burma. He will share several of the most important discoveries over the past four years as well as the stories behind them.

View the Ek Khaale project online here.

Ek Khaale will also be on exhibit at the Chiang Mai Alliance Francaise Gallery from July 9-19th.

Greg Constantine is an award winning documentary photojournalist and author. He has dedicated his career to long-term, independent projects that explore the intersection of human rights, inequality, injustice, citizenship, identity, belonging and the power of the state. His long term projects include: Nowhere People, Exiled To Nowhere and Seven Doors. He is the author of three award winning photography books and his work has been exhibited in over 40 cities around the world. Constantine has been documenting the persecution of the Rohingya community for the past 19 years. In 2020, he began working with Rohingya on the project Ek Khaale. In early 2017, he received his PhD from Middlesex University in the UK and has since received Independent Scholar as well as Early Career Fellowships from the Independent Social Research Foundation and Queen Mary University in London. Most recently, he was a Hearst Visiting Fellow at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication.

Decolonizing SEA Studies Conference
2025-07-17 - 2025-07-19 | Uniserv, 239 Nimmanahaeminda Road, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Supported by the Luce Foundation, Chiang Mai University Faculty of Social Science, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison Center for Southeast Asian Studies, the Decolonizing Southeast Asia Studies Conference will be held 17-19 July at Chiang Mai University’s Uniserv. Organized by RCSD, over 200 presenters and observers from throughout the region will come together for a diverse range of panels, roundtables, and keynote presentations. They will examining the challenges of decolonization from different vantage points: from within Southeast Asian nation states, from the viewpoint of Western academia with its baggage of direct colonization, and the position of indigenous peoples living under the shadow of both of these contexts.
For full description of the conference themes and goals please visit the Decolonizing SEA Studies website, and for observers who have not yet registered to participate, please register here.

Seminar: Rethinking Ethnic Studies in SEA
2025-07-20 08:00 - 2025-07-22 17:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | First Floor Meeting Room (4107), Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to attend a public seminar: Rethinking Ethnic Studies in Southeast Asia, from July 20-22, 2025 at the Faculty of Social Sciences First Floor Meeting Room (4107), Chiang Mai University,
This seminar is jointly organized by the School of Ethnology and Sociology, Yunnan University (YNU), and the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), with the participation of the Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Chiang Mai University and hosted by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Key participants include Wasan Panyagaew, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at CMU; He Ming, Dean of the School of Ethnology and Sociology at YNU; and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Director of RCSD. Other participants include Gam A. Shimray from the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Suchart Setthamalinee from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC), and Catherine Baron from Toulouse University, France. Several scholars from Yunnan University, Chiang Mai University (including its Center for Ethnic Studies and Development – CESD, and Department of Sociology and Anthropology), Minzu University of China, Thammasat University, Dali University, Xiamen University, and Sorbonne Paris 1 University will also present.
The seminar will explore a range of topics within ethnic studies in Southeast Asia. Discussions will cover the Culture and Memory of Ethnic Lue in Thailand and Vietnam, the dynamics of Chinese Communities outside China focusing on Yunnan Studies in Thailand and Sino-Thai family businesses in Northern Thailand, and the Study of Lahu in both Thailand and China with case studies in Chiang Mai. Further sessions will delve into State and Ethnicity, examining historical exclusion of minorities in Cambodia and Thai state policies toward highlanders. The relationship between Ethnicity and Coffee in Doi Chang, Thailand will be explored, including comparative studies with Qingkou Village in China and the concept of “Ethnic Coffee Capitalism.” The seminar will also address Ethnicity and Society in Myanmar, touching upon anthropological research on rural society, the formation of plural societies in Colonial Burma, and the role of ethnic civil society. Finally, Cultural Sharing will be examined through a case study of Malaysia, focusing on heritage politics and the construction of shared cultural identity.

"Thabyay" Film Screening & Panel Discussion: Future Election in Myanmar
2025-10-07 17:00 - 20:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Dhani Bhaholyodin Conference Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50200
The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, invites students, scholars, civil society, media, and the public to a special screening of the documentary “Thabyay: Creative Resistance in Myanmar,” followed by a panel discussion on the future of elections in Myanmar.
This event is hosted by RCSD and supported by partners in the Myanmar studies and human rights community. The program aims to foster informed, respectful dialogue on democracy, human rights, and creative forms of civic resistance.
About the film
Thabyay (approx. 60 min) follows artists, writers, and community organizers who harness creativity—music, poetry, visual arts, and communication—as tools of resistance and public memory amidst conflict. The film offers a human-centered lens on ethical choices, fear, courage, and the struggle for a freer future.
Program schedule
5:00 pm Registration
5:30 pm Welcome remarks — Ajarn Chayan Vaddhanaphuti
5:40 pm Brief introduction to the film
5:45 pm Film screening (60 min)
6:45 pm Panel discussion “Future Election in Myanmar” (30 min) + Q&A (15 min)
7:30 pm Closing remarks
7:45 pm Tea & samosa (networking)
Venue: Dhani Bholyodhin Conference Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.

Report Launch: Mental health, gender, and conflict in Myanmar’s Chin State
2025-11-14 15:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Organized by: TheHILLS Myanmar (THM) & Chin State Academic Research Network (CSARN), with support from Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO)
Friday, 14 November 2025, 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Subaltern Room, Chiang Mai University
This report launch event presents the first study to examine how conflict, gender, and cultural expectations intersect to shape mental health in Myanmar’s Chin State. Conducted during an active civil war through trauma-informed and participatory methods, the research draws on focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and body-mapping exercises across four townships. The findings reveal widespread distress, gendered silences, and faith-based understandings of suffering that both sustain and constrain healing. They also show how women, LGBTQIA+ people, displaced families, and persons with disabilities experience layered forms of exclusion amid political violence and poverty. The Chin State Academic Research Network (CSARN), an initiative of TheHILLS Myanmar, embodies a model of community-rooted research built on trust, local languages, and mentorship. Working through embedded local-global networks and partnerships, CSARN connects emerging Chin researchers with experienced mentors and institutions, acting as an interdisciplinary platform that supports and connects researchers engaged in the region, and promotes the exchange of high-quality, context-relevant knowledge. This study offers not only an urgent call for localized mental health interventions, but also a reflection on what it means to build knowledge, solidarity, and care from within conflict-affected communities.
Speakers
1. THM CSARN Senior Adviser – Sena Galazzi
2. Dr. Lian Report co-author, formerly Technical Consultant, TheHILLS Myanmar
3. Lily Report co-author, formerly Technical Consultant, TheHILLS Myanmar
4. Thawn N. Lian, Executive Director, TheHILLS Myanmar
5. Dr. Sang, MHPSS Specialist, Chin Human Rights Organisation
6. Dr. Matthew Yoxall, Board of Directors, TheHILLS Myanmar
7. Dr. Mary, Research Manager, TheHILLS Myanmar

Stitches of Strength: A Quilt Exhibition
2025-12-11 09:00 - 2025-12-19 17:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Chiang Mai
The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), in partnership with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), presents an exhibition that brings forward narratives of resilience, memory, and hope articulated by Rohingya women. Through visual and material expressions, the exhibition seeks to illuminate lived experiences of displacement and survival, while encouraging visitors to critically reflect on the social boundaries that shape perceptions of “self” and “other.”
The exhibition will take place from 11 to 19 December 2025 at the Entrance Hall of Chiang Mai University Library. Guided tours will be conducted in English, Thai, and Burmese on the following dates:

11 December 2025 at 13:30
17 December 2025 at 13:30

Light refreshments will be provided.
The event is open to the public

Online Seminar: Researching Forced Displacement Issues In Southeast Asia
2025-12-15 10:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | online, Thailand
Researching Forced Displacement Issues in Southeast Asia
December 15, 2025, 10 AM – 12 PM (Thailand Time)
Register online here
This seminar series explores displacement issues in Southeast Asia, investigating various forms of displacement, enhancing understanding of the legal frameworks that govern displacement, and examining community responses to displacement. This seminar series is hosted by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), under the Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia program.
Speakers:
10:00-10:15 Welcoming remarks from Dr. Sirada Khemanitthathai
Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia; Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, Chiang Mai University
10:15-12:00 Panel on ‘Researching Forced Displacement Issues in Southeast Asia’

“The Permanent in the Temporary: Reflecting on the Pedagogy of the Displaced in the Context of Marawi, Lanao del Sur, Philippines” with Kristine Mari T. Miranda
Researcher-Writer (Initiatives for International Dialogue); Research, Documentation, and Learning Consultant (Humanity & Inclusion Philippines)
“Out-of-Camp Refugees in Southeast Asia: History, Legal Frameworks, and the Case of Tonlé Sap” with Nguyen Dang Dao
National University of Singapore]
“Between Protection and Security: The Securitization of Refugees in Malaysia” with Afifi Nordin
School of Business and Social Sciences, Albukhary International University, Alor Setar, Malaysia
“Paradox of Sesan 2 Dam: Analyzing Its Impact on Indigenous Communities’ Future Resources in Cambodia” with Chea Sameng
University of Delhi in India

Moderated by Dr. Andrew Wai Phyo Kyaw
Research Associate, Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia, the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University

Book Launch and Panel Discussion: Reproducing Revolution with Jenny Hedström
2025-12-16 10:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
Please join us at the 4th floor meeting room of the Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University on 16 Dec from 10 am to noon for the book launch with author Jenny Hedstrom and a Kachin panel discussion.
In Reproducing Revolution, Jenny Hedström explores the Kachin revolution in Myanmar from the perspective of female soldiers, female activists, and women displaced by the violence in northern Myanmar. Hedström argues that the household is an inherently gendered, militarized, and political space that impacts, and is in turn impacted by, the external conflict with which it coexists. In this context, women’s everyday labor—the gendered work of childcare, farming, fighting, and forging connections both across households and between the household and the army and the nation—is key to revolutionary survival. Hedström calls this labor militarized social reproduction, and in Reproducing Revolution she demonstrates that such labor is critical to the military effort, and that warfare itself is shaped through everyday domestic action.
We ask that interested participants please register online here so we can ensure we have enough space for the event

Book Launch: "Worldly Engagements" with Roger Casas
2025-12-23 10:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD is pleased to host a public book launch and author’s talk for Roger Casas’ new book, “Worldly Engagements: Buddhist Monasticism and Masculinity among the Tai Lue of
Southwest China” on Tuesday, 23 December from 10 am to noon at the Subaltern Meeting Room.
The Tai Lue of Sipsong Panna, located in China’s southern Yunnan province, is the largest community of Theravada Buddhists in a country where the Mahayana tradition is dominant. In recent decades, and in light of ever-increasing global connectivity and visibility online, the public participation of Tai Lue novices and monks in practices such as eating in the afternoon, drinking alcohol, having girlfriends, and competing in sports—all considered unfitting, even unacceptable, behavior for Buddhist monastics in China and Southeast Asia—has been evidenced as proof of the backwardness of this minority religious community.
Worldly Engagements places such alleged misconduct at the center of its enquiry to demonstrate that, far from characterizing a corrupt form of practice, it represents an essential part of the monasticism traditionally prevalent in the region, an all-encompassing and amphibious technology of self-mastery inextricably embedded in the mundane and the non-religious—that is, a vernacular discipline concerned mainly with making boys into men. It is a rich portrayal of the temple experience as a site for Lue youths to negotiate demands from families, religious superiors, and peers, as well as navigate the challenges presented by national models of masculinity and the powerful influence of Thai Buddhism.
Roger Casas has lived and conducted research among the Tai Lue in Sipsong Panna since 2004. He has held researcher and lecturer posts in academic institutions in Austria, China, Thailand, and Japan.

Seminar: Fishing for Knowledges: Karen Riverine Livelihoods in Northern Thailand
2026-02-02 14:00 - 15:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to join a public seminar, “Fishing for Knowledges: Insights for Environmental Governance from Karen Communities’ Riverine Livelihoods in Northern Thailand” presented by Peter Duker, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Guelph, Canada on Monday, 2 February from 2 to 3:30 pm at the Subaltern Room, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
The uplands of Northern Thailand have long been the subject of environmental governance conflicts. Competing discourses of upland communities, including the Karen, tend to focus on agricultural and forest-based livelihoods, often with attention to the impacts on water that in turn effect communities further along the watershed. And yet, why has there been comparatively so little attention on how communities like the Karen manage the rivers that run through their communities? And rivers are not simply channels for water—why is there also comparatively so little attention on the aquatic life that call these rivers home? Addressing this gap, doctoral researcher Peter Duker will present preliminary findings after more than a year of studying riverine practices and knowledges with four Karen communities across Northern Thailand. He will demonstrate the role of these practices and knowledges for community wellbeing and how they enable engagement with traditional knowledges that are otherwise diminishing. He will then discuss how these insights help inform an environmental governance that is more open to multiple ways of being and knowing and subsequently better positioned to lead to improved social and environmental outcomes.

Seminar: Climate Change and Conflict in Myanmar
2026-02-12 15:30 - 18:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | 4th floor meeting room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
How do violent conflict and climate change shape each other on the ground? This seminar presents new research on the politics and lived experiences of climate change in Myanmar’s post-coup rupture. It offers rare insights into how conflict-affected communities experience and interpret extreme weather and environmental disruption. The seminar also explores how climate and environmental issues are deeply entangled in struggles over power, territory, and legitimacy, involving the military, resistance movements, and civil society activists. The seminar is part of the MyCClimate project and draws on contributions to a new special issue of the Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship.

Book Launch and Discussion: Tai Magic with Susan Conway
2026-02-13 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to join author Susan Conway on Friday, 13 February from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in the Subaltern Meeting Room at RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University for the launch of the newly revised edition of her book, Tai Magic. This is a superbly illustrated book that introduces manuscripts, textiles and talismans associated with the supernatural. Within the context of Tai cosmology and numerology, Theravada Buddhism and spirit religion, the book examines how good and bad spirits are represented in figurative illustrations and how mystical diagrams and spells are formulated to bring good luck and protection or cause bad luck. Extensive field work studies over a period of four years were conducted in the Shan States and in northern Thailand. Using her field notes and photographs Susan Conway provides a colourful picture of the people who create magic and explains how mystical remedies are prescribed and the rituals involved. The author includes comparative material from museum collections in the USA, UK and Thailand.
About the Author
Susan Conway is an author specializing in the arts and culture of Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar). Susan studied fine art as an undergraduate, and her Ph.D. was a study of the history and culture of Lanna (northern Thailand). More recently, she became fascinated with healing practices and the magico-religious power of chants, spells, and rituals. She is an artist whose work is based on Thailand’s landscapes and murals paintings.

Online Seminar: Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia
2026-02-23 10:30 - 12:00 (Asia/Bangkok) | Chiang Mai
This seminar series explores displacement issues in Southeast Asia, investigating various forms of displacement, enhancing understanding of the legal frameworks that govern displacement, and examining community responses to displacement. This seminar series is hosted by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), under the Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia program.
Register online here
Seminar speakers and agenda:
10:30-10:45
Welcome Remark: Dr. Sirada Khemanitthathai
Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia; Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, Chiang Mai University
10:45-12:00
Panel on ‘Researching Forced Displacement Issues in Southeast Asia’
Yee Mon Oo Kyaw, Chiang Mai University
Title: Leaving to Resist: How Myanmar’s Students Reclaimed Agency Through Displacement
Syifa Salsabila Nasution, Asian Institute of Technology
Title: The ‘New Bali’ Disputing: The Politics of Displacement, Resistance, and Intersectional Inequality in Mandalika’s, Lombok Tourism Infrastructure
Andi Subhan Husain, Chulalongkorn University
Title: A Multidimensional Approach to Refugee Protection in Indonesia: Integrating Siyar, Humanitarian Ethics, and Policy Innovation
Moderated by Dr. Andrew Wai Phyo Kyaw, Research Associate, Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia, the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University

Book Launch and Discussion: Young Tigers - Chao Tzang Yawnghwe and the Shan Rebellion in Myanmar
2026-02-24 13:30 - 15:30 (Asia/Bangkok) | Subaltern Meeting Room, Operations Building, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
RCSD invites all to join a book launch of “Young Tigers: Chao Tzang Yawnghwe and the Shan Rebellion in Myanmar,” along with discussion with author Bertil Lintner, on 24 February from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at the Subaltern meeting room, RCSD, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Young Tigers traces Myanmar’s turbulent post-independence history through the life of Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, son of the country’s first president and last Saohpa of Yawnghwe. Born into aristocratic privilege, he was thrust into political upheaval after the 1962 military coup, which led to his father’s disappearance and his brother’s death. Forced into exile and armed struggle, he joined the Shan resistance, navigating the complex world of ethnic insurgency, shifting alliances, and the political economy of the opium trade.
Drawing on extensive research, the book examines the collapse of the federal promise envisioned in the 1947 Panglong Agreement, the consolidation of military rule, and the enduring struggles of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. At its core, it presents a contest between authoritarian centralism and the vision of a genuinely federal political order.
The book is written by Bertil Lintner and Hseng Noung Lintner. Bertil is a veteran journalist and the author of twenty books on Asian politics and history, including several published by Silkworm Books. His notable works include Outrage: Burma’s Struggle for Democracy; Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948, Bloodbrothers: Crime, Business and Politics in Asia, Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea Under the Kim Clan, Merchants of Madness: The Methamphetamine Explosion in the Golden Triangle, Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Struggle for Democracy, and The Wa of Myanmar and China’s Quest for Global Dominance. He resides in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For more information about his work, please visit his website.
