“Indigenous cultural wisdom, which is closely tied to nature, is a body of knowledge that has been developed, accumulated, and transmitted over many centuries. Unfortunately, our laws and institutions have often failed to protect the rights of these ethnic groups, who have long faced pressures and injustices that threaten their identities and traditions.”

The Siam Society Under Royal Patronage is delighted to share with you today the twentieth article from “Heritage Matters”, a monthly series aimed at identifying the challenges and opportunities of cultural heritage conservation published by The Siam Society in the Bangkok Post.

In this instalment of Heritage Matters, Khun Apinan Thammasena writes about the cultural wisdom of the indigenous people of Thailand and how this “knowledge capital” can help us manage natural resources with a sense of ecological harmony, contributing to the nation’s “cultural capital”, which holds the key to the sustainable development and the strengthening of our society as a whole. With the proposed law to safeguard and promote indigenous ways of life on the verge of being passed, the author invites us to see the ethnic groups not as outsiders but as the creative forces of the nation.

The full article can be read here.

Anthropologist Apinan Thammasena is Manager of Social Communication and Public Policy at the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre.