The thesis focuses on the power relationship between the state as the dominant power and the Hmong as the inferior power, regarding a new definition of opium as a narcotic drug that gives the ethnic group a perceived image together with other overlapping ethnic attributes, which make the Hmong a marginalized group. The author found that this phenomenon stemmed from image creation or definition sets and the linguistic operations of different but related political contexts. The state has created three images of “the otherness” of the Hmong identity: the identity of users/sellers of opium as a narcotic drug, the identity of destroyers of national security in the context of political ideology conflicts, and the identity of forest encroachers in the context of political ecology. Furthermore, Hmong culture was portrayed as a tourism product. This complex image making by the state as the dominant culture has become the dominant concept for mainstream society to accept those identities without doubt and without awareness. These images are a political representation to create legitimacy for the state to carry out its preservation or development policies and measures. Nevertheless, the dominance of the superpower is not absolute in itself. There is a gap underneath the layers of this complex cultural detention. The Hmong nowadays are related to the globalized concepts of community and human rights, eco-politics, and ethnicity, enabling this marginalized people to have more social space until they are able to challenge the dominant power in order to express themselves in the international political and economic arena. It is found in this case study that the Hmong at Thaen Tham Village demonstrate two ways to challenge their identity detention. The first is the daily-basis retaliation and the second is adjustments to dominant state rhetoric, such as, the redefining of opium, legends of folk healers, abstention from and complacency about state powers, and ridicule of state law enforcement. The adjustments, on the other hand, create a positive image of the community and individual groups by creating “a drug-free community” or adjusting social/community norms to strengthen the potential of their traditions and practices. The author also provides evidence of dynamism in the retaliation process of the ethnic group that it is not unidirectional, but it is continuously altered and selected according to conditions so as to find the best social space. This is expressed through the image making of young and middle-aged Hmongs who are educationally and economically successful in their careers beyond the agricultural sector. Thus, the Hmong ethnic identity is not monopolized by any one group, but it is created and recreated to become more diverse and complex. Their identity can be fluid and transient and is used as a strategy to negotiate and present themselves according to the contexts of experience, class, age, circumstances, and benefits that are forever changing (pp. E-G, 175-186).