Shan women traders and their survival strategies on the Myanmar-Thailand borderland

Between the 1970s and the mid-1990s, the Burma-Thailand borderland witnessed an expansion of long-distance trade conducted by Shan women. This expansion occurred despite an escalation of ethnic rebellions and insurgencies on the Burmese side of the frontier, and in particular the relocation of the drug warlord Khun Sa’s garrisons to this area. Traders’ narratives illustrate their success in developing survival strategies in this politically volatile environment. The narratives highlight the traders’ ability to continue small-scale trade by cooperating with fellow traders inside Shan State and with trading partners on the Thai border. The strategies that they employed reveal the interplay of state regulations and the practices of state authorities in this borderland.