A Study on Settlement Aspects of Overseas Chinese in Thailand: Focusing on the Thai Novel Letters from Thailand
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Choi Nanoak 
Published: June 2018

This study examined the settlement aspects of overseas Chinese in Thailand under the periodical background from 1945 to 1967 through Botan’s novel Letters from Thailand that consists of 100 letters. The background for inflow of Chinese in Thailand shows that the primary reason why Chinese emigrate to other countries such as Thailand is because of overpopulation and barren natural environment. The secondary reason is the Sinocentrism developed based on pride of their blood and the sense of duty that they will let the world know of how outstanding Chinese people are. The protagonist Tan Suang U lives in another country but still takes pride in being a Chinese, and has the strong will to spread the excellence of Chinese culture to the world. Emphasizing the excellent disposition of survival by Chinese, he does not feel that it is necessary to make efforts to understand the local Thai culture or Thai people. He also does not perceive that the Thai culture or Thai people’s disposition is a product of the environment. In Thailand, Chinese people protect their traditional Chinese culture by helping one another and solidifying cohesion with among those with the same last names, in addition to friends and relatives.
The settlement process of Chinese in Thailand shows how first-generation Chinese and second-generation Chinese face conflicts in insisting on different lifestyles and mindsets. Tan Suang U, who is a first-generation Chinese, has a strong sense of Sinocentrism and thus sticks to the traditional Chinese culture and tries to inherit this to his children. He forces the duties of the Chinese blood on his children, giving a more excessive sense of duty with greater expectations to his son than daughter so that he will take over the family business, which rather leads to deviation. Tan Suang U’s children, who are second-generation Chinese, are born in Thailand and thus have Thai nationality, and want to live in Thailand where they were born.
The settlement aspects of Chinese in Thailand show that Chinese face the tough situation in which they cannot go to China when the identity changes to the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and diplomatic relations are in a rupture between Thailand and China. Chinese people succeed in commerce as they take advantage of the favorable opportunity in which Thai people are not good at commerce, but Thai people begin to resist toward rich Chinese people who struggle to gain wealth rather than understanding the Thai culture. The conflicts that arise from the difference in social standing between Chinese employer and Thai employee lead to the conflicts between Chinese people who cannot go back to China due to changes in identity and Thai people who have ownership of Thailand. In the process of settlement for not only second-generation Chinese who have Thai nationality but also first-generation Chinese who insist on traditional Chinese culture, the Thai people’s competency in national assimilation according to the territorial principle of Thailand played the biggest role. Both generations accept marriage partners regardless of whether they are Chinese or Thai, as long as they are engaged in commerce or have an earnest personality, which shows that they have the post-nationalist and universal perspective on outstanding figures.