This book studies recent developments in immigration in one Akha village in northern Thailand by examining issues such as the coffee economy, ethnic relations, religious beliefs and cultural changes. The author demonstrates how their social structure and culture allow the immigrant population in this location to adapt to the demands of modernity by making constant adjustment to their tradition. The analysis sheds important light on how this marginal population manages to turn the tension between their participation in local politics and their identity as subjects of state governance into opportunities for growth. Instead of resorting to the art of not being governed, these immigrants have achieved a balance between preserving their distinctness and being governed in a modern nation-state, thereby creating greater space for their own survival and development.

Ma Chongwei holds a Ph.D. in ethnology and is professor at the School of Ethnology and Sociology of Yunnan University and executive director of the Chinese Association of Ethnology. Mas research focuses on the social and economic development of ethnic minority-populated areas on Chinas borderlands and the overseas ethnography of Southeast Asian countries. Ma has published more than 90 articles in academic journals and 15 monographs on the development of ethnic areas in southwest China and of the mountain peoples in Southeast Asian countries.