The historical discrimination against the indigenous peoples of Thailand as “uncivilized”, in opposition to the “civilized” majority Thais, and now also as a threat to national security, continue to shape the laws, policies and programs affecting them. Thailand does not have laws recognizing and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and the new Constitution passed in 2007 does not explicitly recognize their identity. This constitutional gap arose despite the fact that indigenous peoples’ representatives participated in different constitution-drafting discussion forums at the provincial as well as national levels.