My anthropological training is the source and site of my knowledge making. I would like to describe two major “field sites” so to speak in the development of my career. One is the formative phase of my intellectual journey and the other is the concluding one. To write about these two phases poses two different problems. The formative phase took place some decades ago, and when I look back at it now, things seem like faded photographs. Dates, places, people, events, thoughts, and feelings seem like shadows lurking in a dim light and it makes me wonder whether I am picking up these pieces to construct a coherent image of a person who no longer exists, or never existed in the first place. On the other hand, my concluding phase is still ongoing, and to write when the dust is not yet settled, and without a vantage point of a view from afar, my eyesight must be clouded by the drudgeries of everyday life. I also suspect that my self-portrayal of an early period serves as a counterpoint of the agony of my present circumstances. Nevertheless this is my story.

Encounter with Anthropology

I grew up in a sheltered environment in the capital city of Thailand. My parents came from an urban background; both were descendants of wellto- do officials, but by the time I was born the family fortunes were already exhausted. Even so my parents sacrificed their moderate salaries to send my brother and I to a very good and progressive school. So in my childhood I was part of the majority, the mainstream Thai. Thailand was the country of the Thai. It never crossed my mind that there were other ethnic or language groups; diversity was never an issue. My maternal great grandfather was ethnically Chinese, but my mother always insisted that he had served the King and become a high-ranking official. Because of that his Chinese ancestry was of no consequence and he had become completely Thai. If there was any mention of non-Thai people, it was usually done in a tone that relegated them to an inferior position with ethnic stereotypes — our maid was a Lao (slowwitted, unhygienic) and vendors were Jek (unrefined, avaricious, but brainy). Thais were kind-hearted, good-mannered, but could not run businesses, so on and so forth. Such was the ethnic environment of my childhood.