Thai-Sikh diaspora and identity: participation of Sikh students in the extracurricular activities at the university

ABSTRACT

This article draws from an ethnographic case study of a group of Thai-Sikh diaspora students in an International college of a Thai Public university. It examines the issues related to the identity of Sikh diaspora students in Thailand and how it affects their participation in extracurricular activities at the university. This study fulfil the deficit of abundant research in the area of Thai-Sikh diaspora studies. Based on Social Identity theory, this qualitative study focuses on the empirical data collected over a period of nine months mainly through semi-structured in-depth interviews as well as ethnographic observation. The major findings of this study are (a) the diaspora students mostly feel comfortable in their own groups because of the cultural and religious differences from Thai students, (b) their schooling in India or International schools have an impact on their socialisation patterns, (c) the unwillingness on the part of the host society to see them as ‘Thai’ limit their participation in extracurricular activities, (d) the fear of not being accepted and viewed differently impacts the lack of participation and (d) there is a lack of proper knowledge and understanding on the part of the Thai society about Sikh religion. This study emphasises the need of a mutual understanding between the Thai-Sikh diaspora students as well as the Thai students to accept the differences and broaden their networks outside of their community.

KEYWORDS:

• Thai-Sikh diaspora
• identity
• participation
• extracurricular activities
• university

Acknowledgement

This paper is part of the research on Thai-Sikh Diaspora funded by Mahidol University International College, Salaya, Thailand.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Anjana Warren’s interest areas are South Asian/South East Asian studies, South Asian Folklore, Cultural Studies, Migrant and Diaspora Studies and Women and Gender Studies.

Notes

1 Pseudonyms are used for all the respondents in this article to ensure confidentiality of the participants.