Pai Nai Ma means ‘where have you been?’ and is an everyday Thai expression similar to the greeting ‘how are you?’ in English. This exhibition looks at where Thai migrants ‘have been’ – through personal possessions and community collections. Reflected in this exhibition are experiences of living in Thailand, migration to Australia and contemporary life from the Thai-Australian perspective.

Many Thai migrants hold strongly to their cultural traditions. Items brought from Thailand express the identity and essence of Thai culture. This exhibition explores the history of Thai migration to Australia and the experience of settlement in Sydney.

Pai Nai Ma was developed in conjunction with a Thai community advisory panel and realised through the generosity of Sydney’s Thai communities who have willingly shared their migration stories and belongings.

The exhibition is based on research on New South Wales people of Thai background by University of New South Wales student Ms Zoe Pollock for the Migration Heritage Centre in 2004.

The exhibition was open until 29 January 2006 at Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre, 346A Church Street, Parramatta (beside Lennox Bridge), telephone 02 8839 3311.

If you missed it, the Migration Heritage Centre produced an online version. more

Stephen Thompson, the Migration Heritage Centre’s Movable Heritage Officer, has written statements of cultural heritage significance of some exhibition items for the Centre’s Objects through Time online exhibition and the Collections Australia Network.

Pai Nai Ma: Thai Australian Experiences is a Migration Heritage Centre partnership project with the Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre and the Parramatta Stories Project, supported by the Thai Welfare Association.

PROJECT CONTACT:
Andrea Fernandes, Project Officer, Migration Heritage Centre

Address:
PO Box K346
Haymarket NSW 1238

Tel: 02 9217 0626
Email: andreaf@phm.gov.au