From August to December 2023, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in several Chinatowns in Bangkok, Thailand. An early piece of advice I got was that no matter how comprehensively I planned the process, not much would go as expected. This guidance was unnerving to hear as an undergraduate about to fly halfway around the world for first-time fieldwork. Some conclusions that I drew will be useful for undergraduates planning research abroad: maintaining flexibility, building relationships with student participants (i.e., informants), and forming connections with scholars who have researched your topic.

My research explored how residents of Chinatowns in Bangkok—whether Thai, Chinese, or other nationalities—presented Chinese culture in public spaces through media (e.g., store signs, architecture).  My Chinese professor, Jingqi Fu, suggested it. I compared the presented culture with the lived experience of local Chinese communities and recent Chinese immigrants. One notable contrast was the public space full of traditional, or stereotypical, Chinese iconography (e.g., red and gold dragons, green pagoda roofs) and the fact that few Chinese people live there. Instead, non-Chinese businesses and sometimes the local government are responsible for the public iconography in Chinatowns; they seek to construct an “authentic” space for tourists, thereby attracting their attention and commerce.

Meanwhile, the Chinese that used to live in these Chinatowns have largely been absorbed into Thai society and now simply identify as Thai. Similarly, more recent generations of Chinese immigrants mostly have a choice about where they live—a privilege their predecessors lacked. These newer immigrants live throughout Bangkok, sometimes in communities, one of which has grown into a “New Chinatown.” I found that there is no “authentic” version of Chinese culture and that it is important to look beyond the stereotypes. I encourage readers to explore Chinese culture for themselves—which like any culture is a fluid combination of past and present.

I began my fieldwork with academic questions that I wanted study participants to answer in a semi-structured manner. Therefore, my questions were not personal—a significant problem. I had specific points I wanted to analyze and felt that every question I asked needed to relate to those points. For example, in one interview, I asked an older immigrant from China from one specific group about the differences between two waves of Chinese migrants to Thailand. I should have asked about that person’s individual experience, which would have provided unique and accurate information.

The best data I collected was from casual interviews when I asked people about themselves and their experiences. People enjoy helping others and want you to listen. You will get your best data from letting a conversation with a study participant wander from point to point rather than forcing it in a particular direction. No one wants to be treated like a research subject over tea in a café so express genuine care and interest in the people you work with while in the field.

Look up articles online by anthropologists who have undertaken research in your area. Contact as many of them as possible to ask for advice or connections. You can often find contact information on websites like academia.edu or within the sources themselves. Start making contacts while doing background research and continue to do so in the field. You will not get responses from everyone, but you will almost certainly get answers from a few. Your ethnographic research will benefit significantly. It is also efficient to build from the established experiences of past researchers, rather than to rely solely on random street interviews. However, you need a balance between these two methods, building from the connections of previous researchers to form your own connections while also being aware of potential biases.

Hopefully, undergraduates reading this blogpost will feel less intimidated about doing field research abroad. Even if every concern ends up materializing and the whole project appears to go sideways, your fieldwork is still worth your effort. You will learn so much in a short period of time and become more confident; both will be invaluable to your future research. I hope I have conveyed how much growth I experienced while conducting my undergraduate research. I view it as an invaluable experience that has indelibly influenced my professional future.

Review of important points:

Maintain flexibility in your research. Things are not going to go as you initially planned, and that is just part of the process. Keep an open mind, and you will find information from unexpected sources that tie into your research in ways you did not previously consider.
If you are working within a limited time frame, conduct interviews in a more casual fashion rather than solely using a structured or even semi-structured interview format. You will ultimately get more useful information from listening to people talk about their personal experiences, whether related or unrelated to your research focus.
Make connections with scholars who have previously conducted related or relevant research. I used Google Scholar to identify possible sources and it worked beautifully.

With thanks to St. Mary’s College and the American Anthropological Association for the funds provided to conduct my research.

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