Mappability of the Thai-Laos Border/Line [Al]

User Notes: My project is split up into three aspects: (1) administrative boundaries between Thailand and Laos, (2) topographic renderings of the disputed region, and (3) a set of georeferenced maps of this region from 1785, 1853 and 1930. It is hosted on Story Map and embedded below, with my argument laid out in a series of informative pop-up windows, accessible by clicking the blue "I" button.

"How can you have a position [on who's right], with the border so unclear?" noted a 'knowledgeable observer' according to Erik Guyot's letter in the Institute of Current World Affairs on the Thai-Laos Border conflict. [1] Despite the ambiguity of the knowledgeable observer's identity, this is a salient point - how can a defined 'borderline' be so problematic and more fluid than a simple, two-dimensional line? From that incident in 1987 to modern-day 2017 with the proliferation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and supposed technological advancements—why are there still overlapping borderlines?

As a mode of introduction, the Thai-Laos Border Conflict occurred in December 1987 to February 1988 and involved a territorial dispute over the extent of a border. Triggered by illegal teak logging, the ownership of the territory around Ban Romklao in Phitsanulok, Thailand or Sainyabuli, Laos was thrown into question.[2] The center of the dispute was the varying interpretations of the 1907 Franco-Siamese treaty demarcating the boundary.[3] Following, the two nation-states engaged in a series of military confrontations, involving over 1000 casualties, before a ceasefire was declared in February.[4] Since then, a Border Committee (which is still ongoing) has been formed to clarify the Thai-Laos border

My investigation questions how a seemingly static borderline is, in fact, fluid. Further, how do these cartographic elements enact territorial control?

To explore this facet, I explore the Thai-Laos border conflict from 1987-1988 as a lens to illustrate the complexities of cartographic processes. By recreating the maps, I re-appropriate representations of space to destabilize the sphere of constructed horizontality to assert the borderline’s fluidity. The ways in which the state mobilizes and contests this tool illuminates the politicized role of cartography and its contemporary implications on ethnic minorities.