Children Affected by Armed Conflict in the Borderlands of Thailand

Kai Chen, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the School of International Relations, Xiamen University, China. His principal research focuses on the nexus between human insecurity and international relations, especially children affected by armed conflict in the borderlands of the conflict-affected countries. His previous positions include post-doctoral fellow at the School of Public Administration, Zhejiang University, and post-doctoral fellow at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Oxford, King’s College London, National University of Singapore, Kyoto University, Lund University, Cardiff University, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, etc. He is the author of Comparative study of child soldiering on Myanmar-China border: evolutions, challenges and countermeasures (Springer, 2014), and On geo-cultural relations between China and Indo-China Peninsula countries (Xiamen University Press, 2016).

“The book has a neat structure, with clear well-directed chapters. Bibliographic references are located at the end of each chapter. I found it to be well-organized. Each chapter is self-contained, and in this respect, it is a good resource for lecturers, teachers and students. Above all, it is a perfect starting point for students and academics new to South-East Asian Criminology.” (Jade Moran, International Criminology, Vol. 3 (3), 2023)“How can academic work have meaningful social engagement? Two of the many ways are through research that opens new dialogue on less-known topics, or that sheds light on marginalised people and problems. Such is the focus of Kai Chen’s Children Affected by Armed Conflict in the Borderlands of Thailand, which addresses a topic that has been scarcely studied and a context where unpredictable security conditions in Myanmar and southern Thailand have constrained engagement with the most vulnerable and impacted.” (Hyun Sinae, Asian Studies Review, January 31, 2022)“Kai Chen’s Children Affected by Armed Conflict in the Borderlands of Thailand contributes to our understanding of the causes and dynamics of child soldiering along the Thai-Myanmar border and in Thailand’s Far South (where a Malay-Muslim insurgency has been raging since 2004), and discusses steps taken by the Thai government to confront this issue. … the book contributes to the literature on children affected by conflict, focusing on the borderlands of Thailand. It also raises many interesting questions.” (Ornanong Husna Benbourenane, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Vol. 43 (2), December, 2021)

• Acknowledgments.- List of Abbreviations.- Introduction: For The Living and The Dead.- 1. Child Soldiering in Thailand: A Ticking Bomb.- 2. Child Soldiering on Thailand-Myanmar Border: The God’s Army and Beyond.- 3. Child Soldiering in Thailand’s Deep South: Stories of Or Ror Bor and Chor Ror Bor.- 4. Security Governance of Child Soldiering: What Stakeholders Have Done.- 5. Why Thai Children Are Still Involved in Child Soldiering? : Lessons Learned.- 6. Transnational Public-private Partnership: A Second-best Solution.- Conclusion: Looking Ahead.- Bibliography.- Index.