Profile of Michael Moerman's collection at SAC

About the Michael Moerman collection at Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Thailand

Michael Moerman's fieldwork materials were produced when he conducted research about Thai Lue at Ban Phad, Payoa province between 1959 and 1986. This collection also contained materials from the study of administration of justice in Northern Thailand between 1967 and 1968. Moreover there are fieldnotes from Asia and Southeast Asia survey.

In 2005, the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (SAC Thai website, legacy English website) acquired the fieldwork materials belonging to Professor Michael Moerman to preserve in an archive as well as to make accessible to scholars, students and the general public through a database and on-line browsing tool. This collection includes over 6000 different sorts of research materials: thousands of typed notes, handwritten notes, punch cards, letters, maps, and other printed materials. The collection also has audio and video recordings, and thousands of photographs and slides.

Photographs and slides of Thai Lue people from the Michael Moerman collection, available on line

Since 2005, over 3113 records of photograph, slides, and negative film have been made available on line by SAC (link to collection website). These images are of people, objects, village, ceremonies, and daily life and activities of Thai Lue people. In 2010, most of these records were linked to the Digital Archive of Research on Thailand (DART) website hosted by University of Washington Libraries.

Brief biography

Michael Moerman worked as an American anthropologist who was interested in minority groups in South East Asia. From 1959-1987, he worked on research about Tai Lue in Thailand. Moerman graduated from Columbia College with bachelor's degree in Anthropology and earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Yale University in Anthropology.

He started his career as a teacher at American University, Washington, D.C. in 1962. After that, in 1968, he moved to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he worked until his retirement in 1993. According to his interest in the minority groups in South East Asia, he did fieldwork to gather the data about the minority groups in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. He is also a consultant, researcher and invited lecturer for several academies: for example, a consultant of Journal of Asian Studies, 1965-1967, invited researcher of Australian National University, 1981-1983, invited researcher of Kyoto National University, 1992-1993, invited lecturer at Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, 2005 etc. Beside these he is also a consultant in birth control. After retirement, he worked as an actor and drama writer.