- Urban planning in Bangkok is a constant battle, specifically tidying and organising the streets, without putting at risk the business of street vendors who claim they are the heart of Bangkok’s culture
- The growing nature of tourism (environmental footprint, economic impact, our different ideas and values) is effecting the economic health and size of indigenous communities and sites
- Tourism is forcing indigenous people to reconstruct their ethnicity to make it more photogenic and 'sellable''
- However, on the contrary, responsible tourism can help people from these remote communities to find work 
- Many slums were demolished through urbanisation process in Thailand under the pressure of rising land prices, putting many people out of homes
- Due to the pressures of social and economic status, urbanisation and gentrification in Bangkok has been at a cost of losing a lot of indigenous and cultural roots

The majority of the group, live to the north and west of the country. Most of the individuals in the group are hunters, farmers and food gatherer. Up to the year of 2002, there are a total of 925,8252 indigenous people listed by the Thai government.
 https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section2/2010/12/indigenous-peoples-of-thailand.html
http://www.rlpd.go.th/rlpdnew/images/rlpd_1/HRC/CERD%201_3.pdf
http://thaifreedomhouse.org/about-us/hill-tribes-indigenous-people/

Indigenous populations are predominantly dispersed across the north and northwestern parts of Thailand, with a smaller population living in the south. The indigenous population of Thailand are commonly referred to as “hill tribes,” and sometimes as “ethnic minorities”. The historical discrimination against the indigenous peoples of Thailand as “uncivilised”, in opposition to the “civilised” majority Thais, continue to shape the laws, policies and programs affecting them. As of 2010, Thailand does not have laws recognising and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and the new Constitution passed in 2007 does not explicitly recognise their identity.

Heritage Preservation
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes cultural heritage can be tangible, such as buildings and surrounding, or intangible, such as local custom and way of life. Therefore an effort to preserve cultural heritage should aim to conserve not only physical objects, such as buildings and their surroundings, but also intangible things such as arts languages, and customs.
Preserving cultural heritage, such as the indigenous thai ideals helps to maintain:
Cultural memory - preserving cultural heritage maintains physical evidence of history and transfers valuable knowledge of ancestors.
Convenient proximity -preserving cultural heritage supports interactions among the environment, people and community activities.
Environment diversity - among urban development cultural heritage retains local artifacts and reinforces the importance of local artisans as an identifier of the local community.
Economic gain - preservation can benefit the community in reducing the need for new buildings and serving as attractions to visitors.

https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section2/2010/12/indigenous-peoples-of-thailand.html

·         The difficulties minority peoples encounter in obtaining Thai citizenship

          - Obstacles to rights to free movement

          - Property ownership (ex. lands, territories, etc.)

          - Political participation

·         Refusal to respect, provide recognition or support to traditional and minority cultures.

·         Buying up of village communal land by private developers against the wishes of the villagers and without compensation to the villagers.

·         Villagers in the region the traditional way of life and continued presence in the area are threatened by processes of economic development, by past international development assistance projects and by present security, development, conservation and forestry policies.

·         No compensation being offered for those forcibly moved from their homes or land, and little choice about alternative land being offered to those communities still facing relocation.

http://www.hrca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/the-hill-tribes-of-northern-thailand.pdf
http://www.ibtimes.com/thailands-lost-tribes-natives-who-are-not-citizens-708246

Indigenous peoples have been struggling with expulsion from or restrictions of access to their ancestral lands. Recent legal reforms and policies such as the Forestry Master Plan have resulted in judicial actions against members of indigenous communities within protected forests. Indigenous leaders and activists opposing such injustices have faced harsh reprisals, including enforced disappearances and harassments. 

Traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples on the use of their lands and resources is also being challenged with adverse laws.
 
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/THA/INT_CCPR_ICO_THA_23570_E.pdf

In 2014, during the drafting of the current Interim Constitution of Thailand, Indigenous Peoples submitted proposals for a specific legislation for promotion of the rights of Indigenous Peoples but they were not accepted. Indigenous Peoples have continued lobbying with the National Legislative Assembly for considering the proposals for such legislation.

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/sites/default/files/media/thailandupr-sep2015-final_0.pdf
Greenop, K., & Memmott, P. (2013). Aboriginal identity and place in the intercultural settings of metropolitan Australia. Indigenous in the City: Contemporary Identities and Cultural Innovation, 256-281.

- Despite the above, tourists are generally very welcome, and the experience of meeting them is usually interesting and enjoyable

- Tourist guides often give false information to their guests, for a variety of reasons, including lack of knowledge and understanding, and pursuit of their personal profit

- Cooperation between guides, tour companies and hill tribes would greatly improve hill tribe tourism

- Hill tribe people in the villages should be more directly involved with guiding, either as registered guides, or village guides, appointed by the village and tour operators

- Profits from hill tribe tourism should be more equally shared between operators and villages.
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/tourism-industry-and-northern-thailands-mountain-peoples

The majority of the population in Bangkok is Chinese and Thai Chinese because of the migration at the start of the establishing city. Most younger generations of Thai Chinese adopted a Thai identity once Chinese immigration was restricted in the 1930s and 1940s. Today, marriage between Chinese and Thai is common and accepted in Bangkok meaning there is not a lot of diversity between who is considered “indigenous” or not (unlike Australia where there might be a heavier cultural divide).

Picture attached is the center of Bangkok's Chinatown, on Yaowarat Road. Chinese immigrants and their descendants from the largest minority group in the city.

Fryer, D. (1953). The "Million City" in Southeast Asia. Geographical Review, 43(4), 474-494. doi:10.2307/212034
http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Bangkok-People.html