TAI STUDIES CENTER

The Tai Studies Center (TSC) is a non-profit and tax-exempt organization. It was founded in January of 1984 by a group of Tai Dam refugees and some of our American friends. Our elders recognized that because our numbers are small, we must work hard to preserve our culture. No one would do this for us.

The purpose of the TSC is to research and publish Tai history and literature, to preserve and promote Tai culture, to support students in higher education, to promote the common welfare and well being of Tai people, and to promote intercultural understanding and cooperation in the community at large.

Our history is recorded in the memories of our senior citizens living in various parts of the world, but our young people growing up in America need a written record if they are to study their roots. The TSC gathers written and oral versions of Tai Dam history for publication in the Tai Dam language and later translation into English.

By this means, we are able to transmit our culture and history to future generations of Tai Dam, to create worldwide awareness of our people, and to provide resources for further research.

In addition to cultural and historical projects, the TSC is supporting Tai Dam students for higher education, and engaged in economic and humanitarian projects directed towards the Tai people living in Northwest Vietnam.
1. History ? After the battle of Dien Bien Phu, a group of Tai people was evacuated to Hanoi and then to Laos in 1954. When the Communists took over Laos, that group of people fled to Thailand and then to third countries such as America, Canada, France, and Australia from 1975. Seventy percent of Tai people living in America stay united in the state of Iowa.
2. 1982 - Tai Concern Youth Leaders (TCYL) met with Mikel Johnson, Director of American Friends Service Committee in Des Moines, Iowa, concerning the severe poverty of Tai people living in Northwest Vietnam.
3. 1983 - TCYL met with John McCaulliff, Director of AFSC in Philadelphia, Penn, asking to make a visit to Son La, Vietnam.
4. 1984 ? Tai Studies Center (TSC) was founded as a non-profit and tax-exempt organization by Tai people and their American friends in Des Moines, Iowa.
5. 1985 ? TSC delegation attended the Indochina Forum in Maryland.
6. 1986 ? TSC delegation attended an international conference in Philadelphia and met with Mme Nguyen Thi Binh. We showed our sincere concerns about the Tai people and their severe poverty in Northwest Vietnam.
7. 1987 ? On behalf of the Tai people in Iowa, AFSC sent Roger Rumpf and Jacky Chignon to Son La, Vietnam to evaluate the Tai people?s needs.
8. 1989 ? TSC sent its president, Mr. Kieb Baccam, along with Dave Elder, AFSC?s director to Son La, Vietnam. They met with Tai people and evaluate their needs.
9. 1990 - TSC sent a delegation of 5 Tai people from Iowa, including TSC Executive Director Siang Bacthi, one Tai engineer from France and another from Canada. With funds from AFSC and contributions from Tai people overseas, we donated an ambulance and some hospital equipments to a hospital in Thuan Chau and some materials to build a small irrigation dam in Son La City. We also met with Mme Nguyen Thi Binh in Hanoi.
10. 1993 ? TSC sent a delegation of 5 people to Son La and Lai Chau, Vietnam. They were one Tai engineer from France, another Tai from Iowa (Siang Bacthi), Dr. William Whigham from Iowa State University, Dr. Uravan Ungtrakun from Reforestation Department of Thailand, and Ed Murphy of Agricultural Development NGO from New York.
11. Dr. Whigham offered 5 scholarships to Tai students to study at Iowa State University. After a few years of attempts, no Tai students succeeded in coming? without any good explanation from Vietnamese Government.
12. Instead, TSC sponsored and hosted 4 Tai students from Thailand for High School and College education in Iowa, 1994 to 2007.
13. 1994 - TSC organized and hosted a ?Tai Solidarity International? conference in Des Moines, Iowa. TSI, a coalition of Tai communities in the USA, Canada, Australia & France, officially raised our concerns about a massacre of 53 Tai Dam in Son La Province occurred in October 1993. TSC and TSI also advocated a protest against the planned Son La Hydroelectric Dam on top of a massive earthquake fault.
14. 2011 - TSC delegation met with the U.S. State Department concerning the adversities of the Hoa Binh and Son La dams towards the Tai indigenous people. Northwest Vietnam was classified as the poorest region of Vietnam.
15. 2012 to 2015 ? TSC sent delegations to attend UN Permanent Forums in New York City, but under other accredited NGOs.
16. 2014 ? TSC applied and has been accepted in UN DESA's Civil Society data base. DESA stands for Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
17. 2015 ? TSC applied for the Consultative Status. It?s still on pending.
18. 2015 ? TSC issued a brochure entitled ?The Tai Nation? with the treaty of ?autonomy? signed by President Ho Chi Minh to Tai People in 1955.
1. To research and publish Tai history and literature

a) TSC has collected dozens of ancient Tai manuscripts from Tai people in America and overseas, including Vietnam, China, and Thailand.
b) Using dot matrix computer graphics, we published 9 of those manuscripts as booklets.
c) The first English version of theTai Dam legend will be published whenever funds are available ? Pou Chaou Ngou Haou or King Cobra.
d) A text book on how to read and write the Tai Dam language is being prepared for publication whenever funds are available.
e) A slide presentation was completed in 1992, ?The Tai Dam ? Nowhere To Stay.? It is now a 25-minute DVD in Tai Dam, in English, and in French.

2. To preserve and promote Tai culture

a) TSC has promoted and supported Tai Dam New Year celebrations (Lunar New Year) from 1987 to now.
b) TSC has organized many dance troupes for social and cultural events.
c) Many traditional songs and dances have been recorded in audio and video format.
d) TSC published 2 karaoke albums of Tai old songs in 2010 and 2012.
e) TSC and many other Tai Dam organizations organized ?The 25th Anniversary Thaidam Freedom Festival? in 2000.
f) Two chapters of the Tai Studies Center have been founded in Thailand, Loei and Phetbury Provinces.

3. To support students in higher education

a) TSC and Tai Concern Youth Leaders organized ?Graduation Balls? from 1983 to 1989 and in 2014. Certificates and presents were awarded to High School and College/University graduates throughout the United States.
b) TSC sponsored and hosted 4 Tai students from Thailand for High School and College education in Iowa, 1994 to 2007.
c) TSC assisted many Tai students from France to obtain internships in Iowa offices and companies.

4. To promote the common welfare and well-being of Tai people

a) Many trips have been organized for TSC members and friends to officially visit Tai people in Northwest Vietnam (1987, 1989, 1990, & 1993), China (April 1996 & October 1996), Thailand (1989, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000, & 2001), France and Europe (numerous times).
b) TSC is assisting Tai Veterans in America who are requesting their overdue pensions from France (The Tai Federation government fought alongside the French army at the Dien Bien Phu Battle in 1954).
c) Since 2012, to assist our elders in Metro Des Moines to live independently at home rather than a nursing home, TSC has created an assistance program: Asian Home Care. Other programs for the well being of Tai elders will be implemented.

5. To promote intercultural understanding in the community at large

a) TSC and the Iowa Cultural Affairs conducted an oral history in 1987-88 about two Tai Dam families taking refuge in Des Moines. It was published on the Iowa Palimpsest on Winter 1988.
b) TSC has assisted Lawrence Sumulong, a Grinnell College student, doing an oral history on the Tai Veterans in Iowa in 2012. It was published in the College News.
c) In 2003, in cooperation with five Tai organizations and 40 Tai families worldwide, TSC founded and created Tai Village Inc. TVI is a non-profit and tax-exempt organization with a land of 85 acres, a Welcome Center, 3 gazebos, a sports-court, a large pond, etc. It is located in Des Moines, Iowa, the center of the Tai free world. Siang Bacthi is now Vice-President of Tai Village Inc.
YES - 20155AnnualReportComplete1.doc TAI STUDIES CENTER
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2013-2015


1) Mr. William E. Johnson, President U.S.A.
3521 Davisson Road
Des Moines, Iowa 50310

2) Ms. Sai Lovan, Vice-President N.W. Vietnam
2616 49th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50310

3) Mr. Thomas T. Baccam, Secretary N.W. Vietnam
3116 Brook View Drive
Des Moines, Iowa 50317

4) Ms. Phimmachanh Baccam, Treasurer N.W. Vietnam
715 44th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50312

5) Ms. InNgeun Soulinthavong, Director N.W. Vietnam
3209 S.E. 4th Court
Des Moines, Iowa 500315

6) Mr. Jimmi Van Luong, Director N.W. Vietnam
4144 Leyden Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50317

7) Mr. Sai Lao Sang Ha, Director Burma (Shan)
3922 Columbia Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50313

8) Ms. Patraporn Paisoon, Director Thailand
168/8 chiengkhan
Loei 42110, THAILAND

9) Mr. Khamthong Khamma Laos
3242 S.E. 22nd Ct.
Des Moines, Iowa 50320

10) Ms. Siang Bacthi, Executive Director N.W. Vietnam
715 44th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50312
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