Thailand 8

Listen to Thailand 8, a 42-year-old man from Ban Vinai Refugee Camp (or Ban Vinai Holding Center), Thailand, and California, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 42

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/09/1983

PLACE OF BIRTH: Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, Thailand

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Hmong

OCCUPATION: management auditor for the state of California

EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree in business management

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject was born and raised in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, also known as Ban Vinai Holding Center, in Thailand. He lived there until around the time it closed, in 1992, when he was nine years old. He and his family then lived in other parts of Thailand until they moved to Wisconsin, in the United States, when the subject was 13. After just two months in Wisconsin, they moved to Fresno, California, where the subject spent the rest of his childhood. He later moved to Sacramento, California, where he was residing at the time of this interview.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject speaks Hmong, Lao, and Thai.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Chamang Yang (under supervision of Deric McNish)

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 29/09/2025

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Uh, I’m a father of five, and I’m currently working at associate management auditor for the state of California. Um, I’m a Packer fans. [sic] Uh, you know, I was born in Thailand. Came here on, uh, 1996 on September 9, uh, and that, that night was the game that, you know, I get, I get, I got, uh, here in Green Bay, and that night was the game that Green Bay Packer play against the Philadelphia Eagles; and since then I’ve become a Packer fans [sic], you know.

And, uh, yeah, and we lived there for a short period of time and moved out to Fresno, California. I lived, uh, I grown up there in Fresno, California. Uh, went to school there. Um, went to Fresno State. I’m a huge, uh, Fresno State football fan, and then, uh, you know, right after, I get marry for the last decade, I moved here to, um, Sacramento, and then, um, work here. And raised my family, decide to raise my family here, and maybe one day I’ll move back to Fresno because Fresno always, you know like in my heart. And, uh, it’s always a place that I want to live, and you know, and be — and also because I have a lot of friends and family down in Fresno. …

[The subject speaks Hmong]: Kuv muaj tsib twg me nyuam. Kuv uh, tamsis no ua haui lum rau the state of California, yog ib tug associate management auditors. Thiab kuv yog ib tug Packer Fans. Kuv tuaj teb chaws no xyoo uh, cuaj caum rau thaum lub cuaj hli vas thii cauj. Ntawd tua txog hmo, tua txog yog hmo, Green Bay played nrog Philadelphia Eagles. Ces txiin tawd los kuv thiab yog ib tus Packer fans. Peb nyob tsis ntev pem uh Wisconsin ces peb moved rau uh, los mus rau Fresno. Kuw nyob rau Fresno, kuv mus kawm ntawd nyob nrav loj hlob nyob rau Fresno thiab mus kawm ntawd nyob rau uh Fresno State. Kuv vog ib tus uh fan ntawm uh Fresno State cov football thiab. Dhau ntawd los ces kuv los nyob rau haum Sacramento no. Txiavtxim siab uh los ua hauj lum no thiab. Uh uh Tu kuy tei me myuam nyob hauv lub zos no. Tiamsis kuv xav nyob hauv kuv lub siab tias muai ib hnub kuv yuav rov gab mus nyob rau Fresno. Vim yog nyob rau hauv Fresno, nws veei yog ib ghov chaw nyob rau hauv kuv lub siab tas li thiab, kuv tsev neeg thiab kuv phooj yug nyob rau nrav tas. Ces tas li no law xwb.

[English translation: I have five children. I, uh, right now I am working for the state of California. I am an associate management auditors [sic].  Also I am a Packers fans [sic]. I came to this country in the year of, uh ‘96, on the ninth month of the ninth day. Came here the night, came here the night Green Bay played against the Philadelphia Eagles. Since then I have been a Packers fans [sic]. We did not live long in, uh, Wisconsin. We moved to, uh, we moved to Fresno. Then I lived in Fresno. I went to school. There I grew up living in Fresno and going to school in Fresno, uh, Fresno State. I am a, uh, fan of, uh, Fresno State football. Since then I came to live in Sacramento. Made the decision, uh, to work here and, uh, take care of my children in this city. But I feel in my heart that one day I will go live in Fresno again. Because living in Fresno, it is, it is place that is always in my heart, and my family and friends all live there. And that’s all.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Chamang Yang (under supervision of Deric McNish)

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 12/11/2025

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: 

The subject has a habit of adding an “s” to the ends of words in both the scripted and unscripted passages. For more information on the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, visit Wikipedia.

COMMENTARY BY: Cameron Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/12/2025

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