Nationalism in contemporary Thai society : a case study of period films from 1997 to 2005

Abstract

This thesis presents Thai nationalism as shown in period movies produced after the economic crisis, from 1997 – 2005. The purpose of the study was to analyze nationalistic issues through the different components of representative films (e.g. scripts, characters, symbols, and Thai social events used for nationalistic purposes before, during, and after the films took place). Five movies were selected as case studies: The Siam Renaissance, Suriyothai, Bangrajan, The Overture and Young Soldiers. The nationalistic issues found in the selected films were compared with the historical background surrounding the creation of Thai nationalism communicated through plays, annals, movies, and the like. This historical creation of Thai nationalism began during the turbulent, crises filled reign of King Rama V. The troubles which emerged during King Rama V’s time were an important factor which led Thai leaders to encourage Thai people to embrace nationalism; the media was an important tool used to create this nationalism. The study found five different nationalistic themes when the five films were closely examined. The first theme is that creation of nationalism in present times continues to follow traditional nationalistic concepts (i.e. the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese, where the historical wars with Burma were used in present-day as a means to evoke nationalism). Currently, military power is no longer used by countries to exert their influence, but rather, economic and foreign policies are now the alternative power source for countries today. As a result, there are also new kinds of nationalism which have emerged. The four remaining themes are related to these more contemporary issues and include: feminism, teenagers’ nationalistic consciousness, Westerners seen as aggressors, and the cultural invasion and loss of Thai identity. The second theme dealt with feminist nationalism and was found in movies that focused on women’s roles in protecting the country. Teenagers and their nationalistic consciousness are the third theme and are reflected in the teenagers’ love for their country and the important role they played in protecting it from the enemy. The fourth theme showed the Western aggressors and an obvious animosity towards images of the West. The fifth theme which emerged was the cultural invasion and loss of Thai identity. The results of this study have succeeded in promoting a better understanding about the contemporary creation of Thai nationalism via film studies.