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SACNewsletterIntroductionSAC Newsletter IntroductionCulture and Rights in ThailandOver the past two decades, the right to culture and the right to “belong to” a culture hasbecome an increasingly important topic in contemporary academic debate. Whereashistorically, human rights discourses have focused on the rights of the individual, in recentyears, “culture”—particularly the right to ‘belong to’ a culture—has become a focus of rightsclaims. As enshrined in a number of international legal instruments, most recently the 2001Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, “cultural rights are an integral part of human rights,which are universal, indivisible and interdependent.”International cultural rights instruments aim to encourage states to recognize the value ofdiversity and recognize the “group rights” of minority and indigenous groups. In many parts ofthe world, these groups at the sub-national level are asserting their rights, utilizing a distinctivelanguage, tradition, locality, race, ethnicity or religion as a basis for claims to land, environmentalprotection, political autonomy, employment and the repatriation of traditional cultural resources.Since 2009, the SAC’s Culture and Rights in Thailand (CRT) project has sought to uncover howthese complex issues are being explored and negotiated within the context of Thailand. Amulti-year, and multi-sited research project, CRT endeavored to answer the following questions:• How is the concept of cultural rights defined and understood in Thailand?• Who “owns” and/or controls cultural heritage, and through what mechanisms?• Which groups are using the discourse of cultural right to stake claims and why?This issue of the SAC Newsletter features several of the projects undertaken as part of theCulture and Rights in Thailand project, offering a glimpse of what’s to come in the forthcomingvolume, Rights to Culture: Heritage, Language and Community in Thailand, edited by Dr. CoeliBarry and published by Silkworm Books (2013) .As always, we welcome your comments and feedback!Alexandra DenesEditor