Angela Chiu

Abstract

Most scholarship on Thai art has depicted the Buddha image as an iconographic representation, a way to make merit, or a political symbol. These one-dimensional meanings hardly explain why the Emerald Buddha and other famous images have come to be so highly revered by the Thai people. This paper considers the Emerald Buddha and four other statues which apparently become famous in the "golden age" of Lan Na from c. 1355-1525 CE (1893-2068 BE). Chronicles written during this time by monks detailing the histories of these statues may help us to understand how people regarded Buddha images and how certain images came to be seen as extraordinarily powerful or more worthy of veneration than other Buddha images.

This paper highlights how the structure and themes of these chronicles focus on the sphere of social interactions among the images, patrons and monks. The statues' embodiment of ideas of lineage and place is presented in the chronicles as the fuel which gives them their special power.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 1-26)

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Aphilak Kasempholkoon and Siraporn Nathalang

Abstract

This article aims to study and analyze the convention and invention of Phra Sri An or Maitreya myths in Thai society. In adopting the cult of Phra Sri An, local Thai people variously composed myths both by modifying Buddhist scriptures and by inventing new stories. From this study, it was found that Phra Sri An myths that were derived from Buddhist scripture explained the relations between Gautama Buddha (the present Buddha) and Phra Sri An (the forthcoming Buddha), as well as described more details about Phra Sri An's background and what would happen in his time. Myths that were newly invented in Thai society explained the relation between the two Buddhas, describing the liminal period between the two Buddhas' time, and connected the forthcoming Buddha stories with local places.

The study of Phra Sri An myths in Thai society not only shows a variety of myth invention but also shows a reflection of Thai people's worry about the future, such that they tried to describe the link between the present and the future Buddhas and tried to imagine what would happen in the future. The myths also reflected people's wishes and their preparation for Phra Sri An's utopia. This study also demonstrates Thai people's attitude toward the forthcoming Buddha and various aspects of myth invention.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 27-43)

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Bussakorn Binson

Abstract

The Lanna region refers to an ancient kingdom of northern Thailand. Today, this region is comprised of Phrae, Lamphun, Phayao, Mae Hong Son, Chang Mai, Chang Rai, Lamphang, and Nan provinces. The body of the research shows that various types of food play very significant roles in the Lanna musician's ritual known as the Wai Kru ceremony. This article addresses the question of how food interacts with a people's belief system as manifested in the Lanna Wai Kru ceremonies. What follows is a brief description of the types of Wai Krus, after which is a discussion of the main foods that comprises the offerings. Additionally, a comparison with the role these foods play in other countries is presented.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 45-69)

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Claudio Sopranzetti

Abstract

Bangkok began as a shop and boomed as an international market. As a consequence, a variety of trading, storing, and retailing techniques shaped both historical and contemporary Bangkok's social and urban landscape. This article analyzed Skytrain cars and street-vendors carts as central vessels of opposing and competing retail structures, forms of circulation, and relations between goods, people, and the city itself. The article explores how, in their movement across and around the city, they reshape social and physical spaces and offer a way to rethink perceptions of the urban landscape and modernity in Bangkok.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 71-93)

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Jirathorn Chartsiri

Abstract

The idea of the Thonburi kingdom as a political group has been a matter of consensus amongst historians. Most previous studies on the Thonburi period are based on a framework of politics, emphasizing the conflict between King Taksin and King Rama I of the Bangkok era. Based on such a framework, scholars have tended to conclude that Thonburi's status was not as a kingdom, but as a political group. 

The period between the mid-eighteenth and nineteenth century was an era of dynamic commercial expansion in Southeast Asia. The major factor for this phenomenon was the expansion of Chinese commerce. It was also a peak period of Chinese migration into Southeast Asia. Largely influenced by the economic growth of China, there emerged three prominent political and economic centers in mainland Southeast Asia: Thonburi-Bangkok, Saigon, and Yangon. This research aims to determine the emergence of the Thonburi kingdom in the context of Chinese trade. 

This article reexamines the history of the Thonburi period under the argument that the Thonburi kingdom emerged and gained significant economic strength from her proximity to a booming China. Taksin, the half-Teochiu King, took advantage of the increasing maritime trade by seizing an important port emporium and creating a commercial network from the Chao Phraya Delta to the Gulf of Siam. The profit from the junk trade became the main revenue which helped King Taksin expand his territory, population, and productive capacity within a relatively short period.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 95-119)

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Ji-eun Lee

Abstract

This article illustrates the characteristics of monsters as projected in Thai horror film from 2001 to 2008. A number of Thai horror films combine other genres, such as romance, comedy, and action, with horror as the most popular subgenre in Thailand. Since the early 2000s, Thai horror film has changed to become more variable in narrative style, and monsters in the films are more gruesome, gory, and fearful than in the previous periods due to the influence from other countries, especially Korean, Japanese, and Hong Kong horror films. Monsters that appear in Thai horror films are mostly ghosts, especially female ghosts, even if the ghost is a spirit of a tree, or water, or other things of nature. Monstrous females (whether ghost or human) in Thai horror films portray women's inferior status to men owing to the patriarchal nature of society and women's sexuality being more repressed by social norms based on Thai beliefs, including Buddhism. With regarding to the hypothesis of the monster as a social metaphor, and with respect to the "otherness" of Robin Wood, there are six types of monsters in Thai horror films analyzed in this article women, children, other culture, ethnic groups, homosexuality, and machine and new technology.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 121-141)

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Lawrence Ross

Abstract

In the mid 1930s, a violin player named Abu Qasim from Langkawi Island in Malaya arrived in a small fishing community on Lanta Island in southwest Thailand and taught a local community to play a social dance music he called rong ngeng. A couple of years later, a young woman named Bunga returned home to Lanta, also from Langkawi, and became the village's first rong ngeng dance teacher. From this confluence of music and dance emerged traveling troupes of local performers that propagated the form throughout the region-from Phuket to Satun-where it flourished for decades as a popular medium for social entertainment among Malay- and Thai-speaking communities.

Using oral accounts from some of its earliest practitioners, this article looks at rong ngeng's place in the Andaman Coast society in the context of major socioeconomic and political changes that were occurring in the region, and uncovers unwritten histories of the individuals that built its first communities.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 143-169)

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Marasri Sothip

Abstract

This research is an attempt to study the relationship between the narrative techniques of various types of historical narratives about King Naresuan the Great and the image creation of this King in relation to Thai social and cultural contexts. There are a variety of techniques used to present the image of King Naresuan the Great in the narratives. These techniques are the constructing conflicts to present the themes of the stories, the creation of the characters, the creation of the scenes, and the use of points of view.

According to the research, the character of King Naresuan the Great represents an image of a great King in terms of merit, virtue and compassion, with different complementary images according to the social and cultural contexts of the periods of composition. The social and cultural contexts which have effects on the image creation of King Naresuan the Great are the revision of historical chronicles, the nationalist discourse, the conflicts of political political ideas in Thai society, the religious attitudes and beliefs, the concepts of heroes and the literary culture The image of King Naresuan the Great in the historical narratives can be classified as followings: In the royal chronicles, the image of King Naresuan the Great is that of a king with merit, virtue and mercy. In the verse narratives, the images of a virtuous hero who fights against unrighteousness and the hero who creates the nation to be greater than other countries are underlined. In the essays, the image of King Naresuan the Great is highlighted as a hero who saves the nation from crisis; while the narratives in the form of historical fiction emphasize the image of a warrior scarifying his personal happiness for the happiness of his people. The narratives in the category of cartoons present King Naresuan the Great as a brave and dedicated hero; while his image in the dramas has been used to signify nationalism and to inspire social unity. The narratives in the form of the films construct the images of King Naresuan the Great by integrating his images in the royal chronicles and the historical novels. Thus, it could be maintained that all historical narratives about King Naresuan the Great present him as a great hero who will remain in the hearts of Thai people.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 171-192)

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Matt Wheeler

Abstract

The "political offensive" against Communist insurgency codified in Prime Ministerial Order 66/2523 (1980) shaped the institutions and practices that maintained relative peace in the southernmost rovinces of Thailand during the 1980s and 1990s. This article traces the intellectual roots of Thai counterinsurgency and its relationship to political legitimacy, focusing on writings by General Han Linanon, one of Order 66/2523's reputed authors. Classical counterinsurgency theory posits political legitimacy as the outcome of security, development and sound administration. The contemporary insurgency indicates a need to reassess assumptions of classical counterinsurgency which developed in response to the challenges of modernization. This article suggests that the state's failure to maintain sufficient legitimacy in southernmost Thailand in order to prevent a reinvigorated insurgency results from problems inherent in the "hearts-and-minds" conception of counterinsurgency, which posits legitimacy as the effect of, rather than precondition for, effective administration, security, and development. In particular, the conflation of "good governance" with popular participation, and democracy with popular sovereignty, has implications for security in southern Thailand and political stability in the broader Thai polity.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 193-225)

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Patcharin Buranakorn

Abstract

This article aims at studying the relation between the emotion of sorrow in the Pannasa Jataka and the teaching of Dharma by analyzing the techniques of using the emotion of sorrow and its effect in conveying the Buddhist teachings in the Pannasa Jataka.

In the Pannasa Jataka, three techniques are used to present the emotion of sorrow, namely the plot of separation and characterization which enhances sorrow and the overcoming of sorrow; the co-occurrence of sorrow with other emotions: sorrow with serenity, sorrow with determination, sorrow with love, sorrow with fear, and sorrow with love and determination-the co-occurrence of sorrow with other emotions generates 'rasa' or aesthetic experience; the use of other literary devices: word choice, metaphor, and elaborative description of the emotion of sorrow. These literary techniques create aesthetic beauty and help the reader realize and understand the teachings, namely the law of karma, the law of impermanence, and the perfection of giving. These teachings lead to the fundamental understanding of dharma: moral shame and fear to do unwholesome deeds and faith to do good things, the realization that nothing really exists, that all things are subject to decline and disappear, and finally the utmost understanding, the detachment from all things, which brings serenity, wisdom, and liberation from samsara, which is the aim of Buddhism.

In summary, the poets of the Pannasa Jataka, as the creators of a prominent collection of Thai Buddhist literature, have successfully transformed secular folktales into Buddhist tales through the technique of using the emotion of sorrow as an effective means of conveying the Dharma. The Pannasa Jataka, thus, plays a significant role as the spiritual guidance for Buddhists of all time.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 227-242)

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Royboon Rassameethes

Abstract

Currently water resource management has become one of the major concerns in the world today. Problems continue to worsen and water resource management has become a significant part of many communities. Thailand currently faces increasing problems from flooding and droughts, with damage from flooding averaging over a quarter billion US dollars a year. Agricultural areas are worst hit. These issues directly affect farmers who are already poor.

This research selected Ban Lirnthong, Amphoe Nang Rang, Changwat Buri Ram for a case study. The village has successfully managed its water resource as a learning center and has passed on its experience of social learning to manage water resources and develop processes in order to establish a social network. This research will report on the complexity of local knowledge and how local people can use and adapt . such knowledge through their learning experiences in order to improve standards of living, capability to identify problems, and how they manage water resources effectively. The real power of social learning in Ban Limthong is created by local wisdom and the links among community members; moreover, the community collaborates in water resource management with other communities, and the government sector, the private sector, and NGOs. It also passes along new ideas through local specialists and lures more participants and stakeholders to take part in water resource management.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 243-261)

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Sabrina Shaw

Abstract

The emerging dynamics of integration are in the process of being defmed in the Mekong region. Trade has become the currency of cooperation. This unprecedented level of cooperation in Asia on agriculture, energy and trade, in combination with the need to address climate change, sets the stage for implementing a regional vision for a sustainable energy future. This article seeks to examine Thailand's policy space to develop bioenergy in the Mekong Region. Whilst Thailand has signaled a new era with its recent renewable energy strategies, it has yet to assess fully the socioenvironmental effects of biofuels. This research brings together theory, policy and practice within the framework of sustainable development. Among its main conclusions is that, if current practices prevail, Thailand is likely to use an unsustainable model of trade-led development for biofuels at the regional level. Although increased use of biofuels in Thailand may address immediate energy needs, it may also lead to increased food prices and encourage farmers to expand agriculture in environmentally unsustainable areas or to utilise unsustainable production methods in neighbouring Mekong countries. Use of alternative bioenergy sources may promote energy security, revitalise rural economies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions if implemented at the local community level according to the concept of Sufficiency Economy. Meeting food and energy needs in the Mekong region in the 21 st century will require a range of approaches that shift the current development paradigm to enhance the sustainability of agricultural productivity. To this end, there are significant synergies between small-scale initiatives and enhanced agro-energy sustainability.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 263-295)

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Samson Lim

Abstract

This article describes the parallel development of 'modem' police practices, crime news, and crime fiction. It argues that investigative techniques introduced during the first three decades of the 20th century, including fingerprint identification, crime scene photography, criminal records, and statistics, were methods for understanding and representing crime that resulted in a novel way to tell history rather than in the 'scientification' of police work. That is, when combined with the emerging narrative forms found in local newspapers and popular crime fiction of the same period, the new police practices produced what might be called 'real-crime' drama, in a form which commonly appears in the press and on television today.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 297-329)

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Sean Ashley

Abstract

Theravada Buddhism has long been associated with lowland Tai culture. In Thailand, Buddhism is a component of Thai nationalism and the government has actively promoted the propagation of Buddhism amongst ethnic minority groups as a means of assimilating non-Tai people into the Thai national body. Scholars have similarly treated the divide between upland and lowland cultures in part as a division between Buddhism in the lowlands and indigenous spirit and ancestor oriented traditions in the uplands. As upland Theravada Buddhists, the Palaung people have long been noted as an exception, yet today more and more upland groups are converting to Buddhism. In this article I explore the ways in which Buddhism serves as a means of drawing distinctions between the Palaung people of northern Thailand and their lowland Tai neighbours in order to illustrate the way in which the adoption of Buddhism by upland peoples does not necessarily indicate a significant shift in ethnic group identity.

(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 2/2009, Page 231-350)

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