Asian Crime and Society Review

FACTORS INFLUENCING SUBSTANCE USE IN CHIANG RAI, THAILAND

Khemtida PETCHTAM — 2024-05-31

This study was designed as a pilot project and stratified sampling that divided the target population into legal and illegal substance use. The objective is to identify factors contributing to substance use and potential harm reduction strategies. Results showed that factors that influence substance use were individual, socioeconomic status, social inequality and vulnerability, and accessibility and availability of substances. 89% of the sample size reported that they perceived accessibility of drugs relatively easy. 25% of respondents use four types of substances daily. Addressing drug prevalence in Chiang Rai requires a holistic and inclusive approach that acknowledges the region’s unique challenges. Integrating evidence-based harm reduction strategies, community engagement, and policy reforms creates a comprehensive framework that promotes the health and well-being of indigenous individuals. Evidence-based research is needed to gain a broader understanding of the efficacy of harm reduction programs, explore how decriminalization impacts the legal system and incarceration rates, as well as examine whether societal attitude changes lead to decreased stigma against drug users.

A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS ON THAILAND CONSTITUTION’S PREAMBLES: A POLITICAL LANGUAGE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THAI POLITICAL ‘TRUTH’

Pixitthikun KAEW-NGAM — 2024-05-31

Almost 90 years after the Siamese Revolution of 1932, Thailand promulgated 20 constitutions to legitimize the political power in Thailand. There were also 21 times of the successful and unsuccessful coup d’état which labeled Thailand as the ‘4^th most constitution changing country in the world’. A so-often coup d’états have affected Thailand Constitutions with more complexity, more categories, and a more statutory or constitutional interpretation. This article provides a brand-new approach to understanding Thai politics by connote-to-conceal the political intention behind the rich texts of Thailand Constitution’s Preambles. The purpose is to reveal the power relation effecting in the legal and the social organization of the Kingdom of Thailand. This article applied ‘Foucauldian Discourse Analysis’ into the investigation process on 20 Thailand Constitution’s Preambles. The result found some crucial discourses indicating some substantive confluence between the National Security, The Army, and the King against the ‘Democratic’ People Participation. The synonymous between the ethical majestic of the Thai King, the peacemaker Junta, and the limitation of the King subject’s participation has been constituted as the ‘TRUTH’ in the legitimization of Thai political power while the people’s raising for democracy has been depreciated on the contrary.

EXAMINING GENDER EQUALITY IN GUATEMALA: A CASE STUDY OF GENDER EQUALITY IN THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF GUATEMALA

Mirna Amanda Alvarado NAVAS — 2024-06-06

Gender equality has been identified as the 5^th Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations, aiming to end violence against women and girls, establish fairness in the distribution of capabilities, and promote women in decision-making positions. The Global Gender Gap Report of 2023 revealed that Guatemala ranked the lowest in Latin America, and 117^th among the 146 countries measured in the report. This research aims to identify the gender equality challenges experienced by women in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala and propose recommendations for improvement of the situation, especially in gaining promotions. A qualitative design was utilized in this research, and semi-structured interviews were employed among nine participants holding executive positions in the Ministry. The data revealed two main challenges in the study. The first is Guatemala has no governing authority to enforce gender laws to the fullest extent. The second is strong patriarchal norms affect executive roles and skills training opportunities among women. This study proposes three recommendations. The first is to pass the bill for the creation of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to fully enforce the law and create a system for gender-responsive actions. The second is to employ a gender quota policy to achieve a fairer distribution of executive roles within the government. The final recommendation is to provide flexible work options and support facilities for working women. This would enable women to cope with work and family obligations and afford nursing or care facilities while training and networking.

THE ROLE OF WECHAT APPLICATION IN CHINESE FAMILY COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF CHENGDU CITY, SICHUAN, CHINA

Ru XU — 2024-07-04

In this research, the objectives aimed to find out the factors influence Chinese family using WeChat to communicate. Participants were Chinese people who live in the Chengdu City of Sichuan Province, and use WeChat groups to communicate with their family members. With the qualitative and quantitative combined for this research, 20 interviewees have been interviewed, and 417 respondents have completed the questionnaires by using purposive and snowball sampling methods to collect the data. The findings reveal that individual factors such as personal preferences and technological ease play a significant role in the adoption and sustained use of WeChat for family interactions. Additionally, the study highlights the influence of WeChat's unique features, like instant messaging and social media integration, which facilitate frequent and flexible communication among family members, thus supporting the maintenance of familial bonds across geographical distances.

MARGINALIZATION OF MEN IN THE PATRIARCHAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE MAHABHARATA PERIOD

Shukra Raj ADHIKARI — 2024-07-24

Male marginalization refers to the weaker and more miserable position of men in the role of performing day-to-day affairs in the domestic as well as public atmospheres. The process of marginalization has been ingrained throughout history, even dating back to ancient civilizations. While we may not have the opportunity to visit physically, these ancient socio-cultural structures, literature serves as a valuable tool for understanding and analyzing the societal conditions of that time. The Mahabharata stands as one such literary work that offers insights into ancient society and its social dynamics. In this regard, this paper aims to examine the marginalized status of men in the Mahabharata. To accomplish this objective, the historical content analysis method has been employed to gather and interpret relevant data. The patriarchal theory interprets that woman are always submissive to male and no respectable position has been formed for women and it has been regarded that males are always powerful, strong, dominating and having better opportunity. However, the analysis of the data has displayed that patriarchal theory has failed in depicting the superior position of the men characters since they have been found to be marginalized and having no opportunity by the males themselves within the system of patriarchy in the Mahabharata. Hence, the patriarchal theory has not found to be analogue in the data of this research of patriarchal social structure of the Mahabharata era.

DEVELOPING POTENTIAL AND ENRICHING LIFE THROUGH LIVELIHOOD COMMUNITY IDENTITY PRODUCTS FOR WIDOWS IN THREE SOUTHERN PROVINCES, THAILAND

Nutnapha LEKHAWICHIT — 2024-07-24

The purpose of this research was to develop the potential and enhance life through livelihood community identity products for widows in the three southern border provinces of Thailand. The study involved one hundred widows employed as hired workers living in Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala. Findings revealed that the life model of livelihood community identity products for widows in the three southern border provinces could be categorized into two groups: One group possessed the skills and readiness to manufacture products. However, this group did not necessarily choose the community identity products proposed by the researcher; instead, they aimed to utilize their existing products to establish careers. The second group was not prepared to become product manufacturers. The model for developing potential and enriching lives through livelihood community identity products can serve as a guide for establishing careers as online sellers, particularly for widows in the three southern border provinces. This approach can help them generate income for themselves and their families.

RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGEMENT OF THAILAND’S SOUTHERN BORDER PROVINCES DEVELOPMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL ACHIEVEMENT

Nantharat NAMBURI — 2024-09-02

The follow-up and evaluation of the research project management through all 11 projects in the fiscal year 2020 received the budgets from the National Research of Thailand through the observation tool and data analysis by content synthesis and Social Return of Investment analysis, which gives the result that every project pursued the activity plan despite the COVID-19 pandemic by organizing the focus group via the online system and in-depth interviews. The research results appeared beneficial toward the target groups, divided into four groups: 1) social and cultural group, 2) commercial group, 3) technological group, and 4) policy group. The evaluation result indicates that the social return on investment result reveals that the project focuses on the low-income group according to the Islamic Principle. The current total value is 8,500,000 THB., with the result of investment value as 1,429,906.54 THB. Every THB. invested in this project could create a social benefit at 1.79 THB. Most of the projects could fully deliver the results to the beneficiary.

CONSTRUCTION OF DRUGS IN SOCIAL MEDIA: REVISITING THE ‘TECHNOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE OF POPULISM’ IN RODRIGO DUTERTE’S EARLY PRESIDENCY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Aaron Abel Mallari — 2024-09-02

It has been two years since Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure as president of the Philippines ended. His presidency, however, left an indelible mark in the country’s political history especially his violent war on drugs. This paper revisits his campaign and early presidency, joining the conversations that present the 2016 elections as the first social media election in the Philippines premised on changing the landscape of political communication not just in the Philippines but all over the world. By conducting an analysis of the posts of the Mocha Uson Blog (MUB), one of the many social media pages that supported Duterte, this paper presents the ways in which drugs and drug use had been constructed in social media. Analyzing posts from the late 2015 (the period when Duterte began figuring as a viable presidential candidate) to 2016 (the campaign period and his early presidency to December 2016 which marks the end of the first six months of his term and his promise of ridding the Philippines of illegal drugs), this article makes a case for the importance of looking at populist influencers in social media to further nuance our understanding of the interplay of technology and populist politics in the Philippines. Using Baldwin-Philippi’s notion of the technological performance of populism, the posts in MUB are seen to have remained consistent with Duterte’s rhetoric of constructing and securitizing drugs as a threat to Philippine society, a moral issue, and a pervasive and lingering problem for the Filipino people.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING TO OVERCOME HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE: THE CASE OF THAILAND AND INDIA

Bhupinder SINGH — 2024-09-02

Sexual violence has become a significant global issue that can result in everlasting and life-threatening consequences that directly impact women's health. Also, Sexual violence is considered perhaps the most severe form of violence, often taking place among other forms of violence. The exact prevalence appears to be challenging to figure out, however, it probably impacts a minimum of one-third of women at least once in their lifespan. This paper will examine whether the integration of modern techniques can be a game-changer for dealing with the health outcomes of sexual assault survivors, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning will involve significant change, particularly in countries like Thailand and India where there is societal stigma around sexual violence along with massively underreported cases. In this research, we discuss the potential benefits of AI and ML in alleviating health effects on sexual assault survivors by discussing technological advancements including data-driven insights to influence healthcare delivery.

NAVIGATING MODERNITY: MUHAMMADIYAH AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO FATWA AND TARJIH IN INDONESIA

Ismail Suardi WEKKE — 2024-10-02

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, grapples with reconciling Islamic principles with a rapidly modernizing society. This study explores the role of Muhammadiyah, a prominent Islamic reform movement, in navigating this challenge. The research examines how Muhammadiyah, through its emphasis on reason alongside scripture, shapes the issuance of fatwa (scholarly legal opinions) and tarjih (collective legal rulings). Muhammadiyah to the development of fatwa (scholarly legal opinions) and tarjih (collective legal rulings) in Indonesia. By analyzing the processes and rationale behind these pronouncements, the paper sheds light on how Muhammadiyah guides Indonesian Muslims in adapting Islamic law to contemporary realities.

IMPACT OF PARENT REARING STYLE AND SOCIETAL INFLUENCE ON THE CREATIVITY TENDENCY OF COLLEGE STUDENTS: A MEDIATED MODERATION MODEL

Qing Liu — 2024-10-02

This study investigated the influence of parental rearing styles and societal factors on the creativity tendency of college students using a mediated moderation model. By considering the broader societal context, the research aimed to explore how external influences shape students' creative tendencies alongside parental rearing styles. The study also examined parental parenting styles, considering the mediating role of creative self-efficacy and the moderating effect of media literacy. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 951 college students at a university in Jiangxi Province, China. The data collected were analyzed for reliability, validity, and confirmatory factor analysis using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 22.0. Regression analysis, difference analysis, descriptive statistics, and other methods were employed to investigate the impact pathways, and Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to test the mediating effect. The results of the study revealed that parental parenting styles positively influence creativity tendency, creative self-efficacy has a significant positive impact on creativity tendency, and creative self-efficacy acts as a mediator in the relationship between parental parenting styles and creativity tendency. Additionally, media literacy was found to moderate the association between parental parenting styles and creative tendencies.

THINKING ABOUT OPIUM AND THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE: QUESTIONS AND INSIGHTS FROM GLOBAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES

Aaron Abel T. MALLARI — 2024-10-02

Opium has a complex history. The consumption of opium throughout history ranges from medicinal and ritual practice; to recreational and mass-production proportions. Opium cultivation, consequently, has also undergone shifts from being ‘legal’ to illegal, encouraged to banned. The illicit trade of opium, however, remains to be a global phenomenon. The ebbs and flows of the relationship between this intoxicant and human society, therefore, promise various vantage points to further nuance its complex history not only in terms of related policies, but to more ambitious projects of further thinking about global capitalism, globalization, and global governance. This paper reflects about the Golden Triangle, a region at the heart of mainland Southeast Asia, considered to be one of the major sources of opium in the global drug market. The discussion underscores the value of looking at the Golden Triangle from global studies perspectives. Here, the Golden Triangle is presented as a site of production (pertaining to the site opium poppy cultivation and in a sense pertaining to how it has been produced as a space), interaction (how the Golden Triangle could be seen as a commodity frontier where global capitalism asserts and exerts), negotiation (how the Golden Triangle figures in how ideas and discourses are encountered, contested); and also a window to see local-global dynamics as in the case of Myanmar. These reflections ultimately aim to ask how we can locate illicit commodities and illegal/criminal activities within and from the broader discussions of global studies.