The Moral Disintegration and the Politics of Cultural Emotions within Thailand’s Current, Deeply Divided Political Conflicts
Article Sidebar
Published:
Dec 27, 2018
Keywords:
Political Conflicts cultural forces of emotion morality red shirt yellow shirt
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article aims to study the problems caused by the deep political divisions that currently exist in Thailand, and the conflicts they are causing. In particular, the article looks at the division between the ‘yellow shirt’ and ‘red shirt’ political groups during the last decade. It is argued that neither of these groups was ever really internally unified, comprised instead of a wide diversity of social sub-groups which shared different desires, ideologies and cultural emotions. The problem of a deeply divided society highlights the disparities that exist within the political and emotional framework of the country. Importantly, the illusion of morality has concealed and suppressed the diversity of thoughts and moral values in many groups of society. Subsequently, Thai political conflict and polarization demonstrate the struggle for power of political and moral meaning among several social sub-groups. This struggle is reflected in the cultural forces of emotions, which display greater complexity than the seemingly binary conflict between the yellow and red shirts.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Article Details
Section
Research Articles
All rights reserved. Apart from citations for the purposes of research, private study, or criticism and review,no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any other form without prior written permission by the publisher.
References
Anusin, K. (2012) Red Buffalo, Cockroach, Salim: The discourse of killing. [Online URL: https://www.manager.co.th/Columnist/ViewNewsaspx?.NewsID=9550000090535] accessed on October 10, 2015.
Bernstein, R. J. (1976) The restructuring of social and political theory. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Bhikkhu, B. (1986) Dhammic Socialism (Donal K. Swearer, Trans. and Eds.). Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development.
Briggs, J. L. (1971) Never in anger: portrait of an Eskimo family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chaloemtiarana, T. (2007) Thailand: The Politics of despotic paternalism. Bangkok: Silkworm books.
Charoensin-o-larn, C. (2012) A new politics of desire and disintegration in Thailand. In Bangkok May 2010: perspectives on a divided Thailand, edited by Aekapol Chongvilaivan, Micheal J. Montesano and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, pp.87-96. Pasir Panjang, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Editor. (2011) The biography of Surachai Danwatananusorn, Red Power, pp. 2.
Eoseewong, N. (2003) The Thai Cultural Constitution. Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia 3 (March). [Online URL: https://kyotoreview.org/ issue-3-nations-and-stories/the-thai-cultural-constitution] accessed on May 30, 2016.
Eoseewong, N. (2010) Thai political reading: the politics of Thaksin’s ghost. Bangkok: open books. Haidt, J. (2012) The righteous mind: why good people are divided by politics and religious. New York: Vintage Books.
Jackson, P. A. (1989) Buddhism, legitimation, and conflict: The political functions of urban Thai Buddhism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Jackson, P. A. (2009) Markets, media, and magic: Thailand’s monarch as a ‘virtual deity’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10 (3): 361-380.
Laungaramsri, P. (Ed.). (2013) Becoming Red. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Research and Academic Service Institution, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Nostitz, N. (2014) The red shirts from anti-coup protestors to social mass movement. In “Good Coup” Gone Bad: Thailand’s political developments since Thaksin’s downfall, edited by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, pp. 170-198. Pasir Panjang, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Phongpaichid, P. and Baker, C. (2012) Thailand in Trouble: Revolt of the Downtrodden or conflict among elites?. In Bangkok May 2010: Perspectives on a Divided Thailand, edited by Aekapol Chongvilaivan, Micheal J. Montesano and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, pp. 214-229. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Rojanaphruk, P., and Hanthamrongwit, J. (2010) Distorted mirror and lamp: the politicization of the Thai media in the post-Thaksin era. In Legitimacy crisis in Thailand, edited by Marc Askew, pp.161-196. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Book.
Rosaldo, R. (1984) Grief and a Headhunter's Rage: On the Cultural Force of Emotions. In Text, play, and story: The construction and reconstruction of self and society, edited by E. M. Bruner, pp. 178-195. Proceedings of The American Ethnological society. Washington: American Ethnological Society.
Rosaldo, R. (1989) Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston: Beacon Press.
Rozin, P., Haidt, J., McCauley, C. R. (1993). Disgust. In Handbook of emotions, edited by Jeannette M. Haviland and Michael Lewis, pp.575-594. New York: The Guilford press.
Sae-dan, S. (2016) Thailand Revolution. [Online URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSJEiOKCtnk] accessed on July 30, 2017.
Satitniraramai, A., Mukdawijitra, Y. and Pawakapan, N. (2013) Re-examining the political landscape of Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand: Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
Scheve, V. C. (2013) Emotion and social structure: the affective foundations of social order. New York: Routledge.
Solomon, R. C. (1984) Getting Angry: The Jamesian theory of emotion in anthropology. In Culture theory: essays on mind, self, and emotion, edited by R.A. Shweder and R. LeVine, pp. 67-79. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tambiah, S. J. (1976) World Conqueror and World Renouncer. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tambiah, S. J. (1984) The Buddhist saints of the forest and the cult of amulets: a study in charisma, hagiography, sectarianism, and millennial Buddhism. Cambridge: University Press.
Tanabe, S. and Keyes, C. (2002) Introduction. In Cultural crisis and social memory: modernity and identity in Thailand and Laos, edited by Shigeharu Tanabe and Charles Keyes, pp.1-41. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Thabchumpon, N. (2016) Contending political networks: a study of the “Yellow Shirts” and “Red Shirts” in Thailand’s politics. Southeast Asian Studies 5 (1): 93-113.
The Secretariat of the House of Representative. (2014) The Statement of the NPOMC no.1/2014. The National Assembly of Thailand. [Online URL: https://www.parliament.go.th/ewtadmin/ewt/parliament_parcy/ewt_w3c/more_news.php?cid] accessed on July 16, 2017.
Sewell, W. H. Jr.(1986) How classes are made: Critical reflections on E.P. Thompson’s theory of working-class formation. [Online URL: https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/159456/mod_resource/content/1/Sewell%20on%20Thompson%20Class%20Formation.pdf] accessed on July 18, 2017.
Winichakul, T. (2008) Toppling democracy. Journal of Contemporary Asia 38 (1): 11-37. Wolters, O.W. (1999) History, culture, and region in Southeast Asian perspectives. New York: Southeast Asian Program.
Chai, (2015, March 25). Personal Interview.
Kan, (2015, May 18). Personal Interview.
Keng, (2015, October 18). Personal Interview.
P.Nee, (2017, February 23). Personal Interview.
Puk, (2015, October 19). Personal Interview.
Sak, (2015, June 23). Personal Interview.
Somsak, (2015, June 20). Personal Interview.
Ta, (2015, June 30). Personal Interview.
Tai, (2015, May 27). Personal Interview
Bernstein, R. J. (1976) The restructuring of social and political theory. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Bhikkhu, B. (1986) Dhammic Socialism (Donal K. Swearer, Trans. and Eds.). Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development.
Briggs, J. L. (1971) Never in anger: portrait of an Eskimo family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chaloemtiarana, T. (2007) Thailand: The Politics of despotic paternalism. Bangkok: Silkworm books.
Charoensin-o-larn, C. (2012) A new politics of desire and disintegration in Thailand. In Bangkok May 2010: perspectives on a divided Thailand, edited by Aekapol Chongvilaivan, Micheal J. Montesano and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, pp.87-96. Pasir Panjang, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Editor. (2011) The biography of Surachai Danwatananusorn, Red Power, pp. 2.
Eoseewong, N. (2003) The Thai Cultural Constitution. Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia 3 (March). [Online URL: https://kyotoreview.org/ issue-3-nations-and-stories/the-thai-cultural-constitution] accessed on May 30, 2016.
Eoseewong, N. (2010) Thai political reading: the politics of Thaksin’s ghost. Bangkok: open books. Haidt, J. (2012) The righteous mind: why good people are divided by politics and religious. New York: Vintage Books.
Jackson, P. A. (1989) Buddhism, legitimation, and conflict: The political functions of urban Thai Buddhism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Jackson, P. A. (2009) Markets, media, and magic: Thailand’s monarch as a ‘virtual deity’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10 (3): 361-380.
Laungaramsri, P. (Ed.). (2013) Becoming Red. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Research and Academic Service Institution, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
Nostitz, N. (2014) The red shirts from anti-coup protestors to social mass movement. In “Good Coup” Gone Bad: Thailand’s political developments since Thaksin’s downfall, edited by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, pp. 170-198. Pasir Panjang, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Phongpaichid, P. and Baker, C. (2012) Thailand in Trouble: Revolt of the Downtrodden or conflict among elites?. In Bangkok May 2010: Perspectives on a Divided Thailand, edited by Aekapol Chongvilaivan, Micheal J. Montesano and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, pp. 214-229. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Rojanaphruk, P., and Hanthamrongwit, J. (2010) Distorted mirror and lamp: the politicization of the Thai media in the post-Thaksin era. In Legitimacy crisis in Thailand, edited by Marc Askew, pp.161-196. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Book.
Rosaldo, R. (1984) Grief and a Headhunter's Rage: On the Cultural Force of Emotions. In Text, play, and story: The construction and reconstruction of self and society, edited by E. M. Bruner, pp. 178-195. Proceedings of The American Ethnological society. Washington: American Ethnological Society.
Rosaldo, R. (1989) Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston: Beacon Press.
Rozin, P., Haidt, J., McCauley, C. R. (1993). Disgust. In Handbook of emotions, edited by Jeannette M. Haviland and Michael Lewis, pp.575-594. New York: The Guilford press.
Sae-dan, S. (2016) Thailand Revolution. [Online URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSJEiOKCtnk] accessed on July 30, 2017.
Satitniraramai, A., Mukdawijitra, Y. and Pawakapan, N. (2013) Re-examining the political landscape of Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand: Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
Scheve, V. C. (2013) Emotion and social structure: the affective foundations of social order. New York: Routledge.
Solomon, R. C. (1984) Getting Angry: The Jamesian theory of emotion in anthropology. In Culture theory: essays on mind, self, and emotion, edited by R.A. Shweder and R. LeVine, pp. 67-79. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tambiah, S. J. (1976) World Conqueror and World Renouncer. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tambiah, S. J. (1984) The Buddhist saints of the forest and the cult of amulets: a study in charisma, hagiography, sectarianism, and millennial Buddhism. Cambridge: University Press.
Tanabe, S. and Keyes, C. (2002) Introduction. In Cultural crisis and social memory: modernity and identity in Thailand and Laos, edited by Shigeharu Tanabe and Charles Keyes, pp.1-41. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Thabchumpon, N. (2016) Contending political networks: a study of the “Yellow Shirts” and “Red Shirts” in Thailand’s politics. Southeast Asian Studies 5 (1): 93-113.
The Secretariat of the House of Representative. (2014) The Statement of the NPOMC no.1/2014. The National Assembly of Thailand. [Online URL: https://www.parliament.go.th/ewtadmin/ewt/parliament_parcy/ewt_w3c/more_news.php?cid] accessed on July 16, 2017.
Sewell, W. H. Jr.(1986) How classes are made: Critical reflections on E.P. Thompson’s theory of working-class formation. [Online URL: https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/159456/mod_resource/content/1/Sewell%20on%20Thompson%20Class%20Formation.pdf] accessed on July 18, 2017.
Winichakul, T. (2008) Toppling democracy. Journal of Contemporary Asia 38 (1): 11-37. Wolters, O.W. (1999) History, culture, and region in Southeast Asian perspectives. New York: Southeast Asian Program.
Chai, (2015, March 25). Personal Interview.
Kan, (2015, May 18). Personal Interview.
Keng, (2015, October 18). Personal Interview.
P.Nee, (2017, February 23). Personal Interview.
Puk, (2015, October 19). Personal Interview.
Sak, (2015, June 23). Personal Interview.
Somsak, (2015, June 20). Personal Interview.
Ta, (2015, June 30). Personal Interview.
Tai, (2015, May 27). Personal Interview