Hmong Studies Journal (Jul 2020)
Celebrating Hmong New Year Not for the New Year Celebration: A Case Study in Urban Community in Chiang Mai City, Thailand
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to give a critical examination of the contemporary Hmong New Year celebrations in Thailand particularly the New Year celebration hosted by Hmong entrepreneurs from January 15-17, 2016 at the Tribal Museum, Chiang Mai. The study is based on my interviews with Hmong entrepreneurs, written materials such as newspapers, data available on websites and my observations and participation in the New Year celebrations. The chapter aims at better understanding Hmong New Year celebrations held in Chiang Mai City since the 1990s. The focus is on the shift of the Hmong New Year celebration from rural areas to urban areas and how this cultural festival has been turned or used for different purposes by various Hmong networks over time. This New Year celebration in Chiang Mai City can be thought of an example of the present trend of holding New Year celebrations elsewhere. My argument is that even though the trend in New Year celebrations has been locally reshaped according to a national context, it is still a transnational practice shared by all Hmong in different nation states. In fact, it is through the New Year celebration that the diaspora Hmong maintain their sense of belonging to the same ‘national’ identity.
