Political Persistence and Civil Contestation: Thailand's Xenophobic Official Historiography in an Era of Regional Integration

It is well known that Thailand’s official historiography paints Burma as their cruel enemy. Even in this era of ASEAN regional integration, where the Socio-Cultural Community’s goal is to create a mutually understanding society conscious of its ties of history, investigation into current history textbooks and recent popular representations reveal little to no change. It is argued in this thesis that the Thai-Burmese war episodes have been embedded with a specific set of desirable Thai values, keeping them politically persistent despite the ASEAN talk. However, a look into online communities and the results from the electronic survey conducted for this research show that the ASEAN discourse, nonetheless, is making a positive impact on the society, prompting, among Thai people, more questioning and increased interests in traveling and learning about Burma. This seems to bring about improved, positive attitudes towards Burma, and an increasing contestation towards the Thai official...Show moreIt is well known that Thailand’s official historiography paints Burma as their cruel enemy. Even in this era of ASEAN regional integration, where the Socio-Cultural Community’s goal is to create a mutually understanding society conscious of its ties of history, investigation into current history textbooks and recent popular representations reveal little to no change. It is argued in this thesis that the Thai-Burmese war episodes have been embedded with a specific set of desirable Thai values, keeping them politically persistent despite the ASEAN talk. However, a look into online communities and the results from the electronic survey conducted for this research show that the ASEAN discourse, nonetheless, is making a positive impact on the society, prompting, among Thai people, more questioning and increased interests in traveling and learning about Burma. This seems to bring about improved, positive attitudes towards Burma, and an increasing contestation towards the Thai official narration.Show less

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Political Persistence and Civil Contestation: Thailand's Xenophobic Official Historiography in an Era of Regional Integration