Polities, Mobilities, and Materiality through the Border Infrastructure of the Thailand – Myanmar Borders, Pre- and Post- Myanmar Coup 2021

Busarin Lertchavalitsakul

June 6, 2025

17:30-19:00

Room L-821, 8F, Sophia Library

In Person / No registration required

This presentation explores the Thailand–Myanmar border, where diverse flows involving multiple actors create dynamic interactions between border control and permeability under the current border regime. Beyond state mechanisms, cross-border mobilities are analyzed through the lens of border infrastructure and materiality. Prior to the 2021 Myanmar coup, development and cooperation initiatives were promoted, often reflecting paradoxical relationships between states and political entities across the border. From perspectives reflected from below, various flows—both material and non-material—have been restricted since the onset of COVID-19 and the military’s seizure of power. Nonetheless, two-way flows persist. While the movement of displaced people into Thailand has been blocked, commodities—including humanitarian aid—continue to flow into Myanmar. Additionally, the often-overlooked “dead spaces” of ordinary life further highlight the dynamic and contested nature of border infrastructure. 

Busarin Lertchavalitsakul is a lecturer in the Development Studies Program, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences at Naresuan University, Thailand. She has been researching the Thailand–Myanmar border for over two decades, covering a wide range of topics including migrant mobility, cross-border trade, border infrastructure, deathscape, and the myths and narratives shaping relationships between Shan State in Myanmar and Northwest Thailand. More recently, she has incorporated death studies into border studies, exploring how ordinary experiences of death intersect with the contradictions between border control, cultural beliefs, and worldviews. 

This talk is organized by Kuntida Sriwichian (a PhD student in the Global Studies program) and Takeshi Ito (Professor of Political Science, Sophia University).