Publication

Accessories Make the Elephant: Buddhist Thais Worship Ganesha, Indian-style

Ferguson, J. M., & Ayuttacorn, A. (2021). Accessories Make the Elephant: Buddhist Thais Worship Ganesha, Indian-style. Asian Studies Review. 19 pages. (published online 8 Feb 2021: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10357823.2020.1870212?scroll=top&needAccess=true)

Abstract

Hindu gods have been worshipped alongside the Lord Buddha and traditional spirits by Thai Theravada Buddhists for hundreds of years. During the past two decades there has been a spectacular boom in new forms of worship of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of success and remover of obstacles. At these ostensibly religious events and festivals, Thai followers wear Indian clothing and consume Indian foods. Processions incorporate Indian music ensembles and dancers for accompaniment, entertainment and ambience. Through analysis of three Ganesha-sponsoring institutions, together with interviews and ethnography among both institution owners and patrons in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this article examines the role of Indian-tagged symbolic accoutrements as part of a religious experience for Thai people today. As this article argues, while Ganesha is central to the cult, and indeed, the main event, these accoutrements serve the dual purpose of creating a visual/visceral experience of cultural tourism of Indian-ness for Thai worshippers and catering to the needs of Ganesha as an Indian god in the eyes of Thais.

การศึกษาเพื่อความเป็นไทยกับกลุ่มชนพื้นเมืองในภาคเหนือ

ประสิทธิ์ ลีปรีชา และมุกดาวรรณ ศักดิ์บุญ. (2564). การศึกษาเพื่อความเป็นไทยกับกลุ่มชนพื้นเมืองในภาคเหนือ. วารสารธรรมศาสตร์ ปีที่ 40 ฉบับที่ 2. หน้า 68-97.

บทคัดย่อ

รัฐไทยได้มีนโยบายและการจัดการศึกษาสำหรับชนพื้นเมืองในภาคเหนือของประเทศไทยมาเป็น เวลากว่ากึ่งศตวรรษ จากการทบทวนเอกสารและเก็บข้อมูลภาคสนามในระยะหลายปีที่ผ่านมา ผู้เขียน พบว่าการจัดการศึกษาของรัฐอยู่บนพื้นฐานของวิธีคิดแบบชาตินิยมไทยที่ให้ความสำคัญกับการหลอมรวม ผู้คนที่หลากหลายชาติพันธุ์และวัฒนธรรมให้กลายเป็นไทยตามนโยบายการสร้างชาติ ปฏิบัติการจัดการศึกษาของรัฐในระยะที่ผ่านมาประสบผลสำเร็จอย่างดียิ่ง เยาวชนชนพื้นเมืองที่ผ่านระบบการศึกษาในโรงเรียนได้ซึมซับความเป็นไทย ด้วยการพยายามปรับเปลี่ยนอัตลักษณ์ทางชาติพันธุ์ให้เป็นไทย ส่งผลให้ พวกเขาเริ่มสูญเสียอัตลักษณ์ทางชาติพันธุ์ของตนเอง บทความนี้นำเสนอว่าการจัดการศึกษาของรัฐต่อกลุ่ม ชนพื้นเมืองในภาคเหนือของประเทศไทยเป็นปฏิบัติการของเทคโนโลยีทางอำนาจอย่างหนึ่งในการผสม กลมกลืน “คนอื่น” ในสังคมไทยให้กลายมาเป็น “คนไทย” ตามนโยบายการสร้างชาติ โดยได้รับอิทธิพล จากแนวคิดแบบอาณานิคมภายในจากตะวันตก 

Sexual risk behaviours and HIV knowledge and beliefs of Shan migrants from Myanmar living with HIV in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Jirattikorn, Amporn, Tangmunkongvorakul, Arunrat, Masika Musumari, Patou, Ayuttacorn Arratee, Srithanaviboonchai, Kriengkrai Srithanaviboonchai, Banwell Cathy, and Kelly Matthew. (2020), “Sexual risk behaviours and HIV knowledge and beliefs of Shan migrants from Myanmar living with HIV in Chiang Mai, Thailand”. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. Volume 16, No. 4. ISSN: 1747-9894. 14 pages.

Abstract

Purpose

For decades, northern Thailand has been a hub for migration in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, particularly for migrants from Myanmar. HIV prevalence among Myanmar/Burmese migrants is higher than in the general Thai population. This study aims to focus on Shan migrants living with HIV in Chiang Mai, the metropolitan centre of northern Thailand and to examine two related aspects: migrants’ sexual risk behaviour and their HIV knowledge and beliefs. The study aims to understand circumstances in which mobility increases HIV risk behaviour and prevalence.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative study, the authors conducted in-depth interviews in 2017 with 43 HIV-infected Shan migrants (21 males and 22 females), and 29 health-care providers who work in district hospitals in Chiang Mai.

Findings

The authors found that social and economic vulnerability associated with migration, and AIDS-related mortality, increased migrants’ likelihood of having multiple serial partners. Confusion about HIV symptoms, stigmatization of HIV positive women and low risk perceptions, particularly among men, increased their risk behaviours.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to study the way of life, sexual behaviour and HIV knowledge and beliefs of Shan Migrants from Myanmar Living with HIV in Thailand.

Thai Baan Methodology and Transdisciplinarity as Collaborative Research Practices. Common Ground and Divergent Directions

Heis, Alexandra, Vaddhanaphuti, Chayan. (2020). Thai Baan Methodology and Transdisciplinarity as Collaborative Research Practices. Common Ground and Divergent Directions. Advances in Southeast Asia Studies (ASEAS- formerly Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies). 13(2). 211- 228. 

Abstract

Thai Baan research was developed in the late 1990s as a counter-hegemonic, emancipatory means of knowledge production. Originally developed in the context of protests against a hydropower project, it aims at empowering socially and economically marginalized actors to create and represent their own knowledge and to regain authority in social struggles. This decolonial methodology, conceptualized by Thai academics in collaboration with non-academic actors, has remained largely unnoticed by Northern collaborative or transdisciplinary debates. Transdisciplinary research, although engaged in collaborative research designs, often remains silent on issues of power imbalances as constitutive of research processes. Criticizing the compartmentalization and limitation of academic knowledge production, transdisciplinarity realigns the scientific system of knowledge production to deal with ‘real-world problems’. During the last three decades, transdisciplinarity has unfolded into a collaborative and integrative methodology implemented in a number of fields, such as sustainability, public health, and development planning. This article systematically introduces Thai Baan and transdisciplinarity as two approaches to collaborative research practice. It introduces the context of their emergence, sheds light on the respective notions of knowledge and science, and discusses their respective methodological designs. It is argued that both would benefit from a stronger epistemological foundation in decolonizing, liberating philosophies of science to enhance collaborative action, overcome North-South divisions, and foster global dialogues in emancipatory knowledge production.

Heroes of the Plain of Jars: Hmong Monuments and Social Memory in Laos and America

Prasit Leepreecha. (2020). “Heroes of the Plain of Jars: Hmong Monuments and Social Memory in Laos and America” Journal of Mekong Societies 16(3): 44-78.

Abstract

Political conflict in Laos during the Cold War or Vietnam War, from the late 1950s to 1975, involved two opposite political sides, the communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao government. As a major ethnic group inhabiting the battle area, leaders of ethnic Hmong in Laos were divided and joined both sides. During the Cold War, Thotou Yaxaichu was a prominent military leader with the Pathet Lao who passed away in 1961, while Vang Pao served the royal government and the United States Central Intelligence Agency. After the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, Faidang Lobliayao, who fought side by side with the Pathet Lao, became a key person in the new Lao government and died in 1986. Meanwhile, Vang Pao, who was a Hmong military leader under the royal government, fled to America and died in 2011. Recently, monuments of the three leaders were formally erected in Xieng Khouang in Laos and in California in the United States, respectively. The main objective of this article is to understand the social meaning of the establishment of monuments of the three former ethnic Hmong leaders in the two different countries. The author investigates the history of those leaders and relevant contexts. Concerning methodology, information was mainly taken from existing documents, media, and interviews. Based on the result of research, it is my finding that, internally, the building of monuments of former Hmong leaders in both countries has become a modern means of conveying social memory to younger Hmong generations on opposite sides of politics. Externally, the monuments express Hmong ethnic identity and create social space in the context of national ethnicity, in both countries.

Air Male: Exploring Flight Attendant Masculinities in North America and Thailand

Ferguson, J. M., & Ayuttacorn, A. (2019). Air Male: Exploring Flight Attendant Masculinities in North America and Thailand. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 20(4), 328- 343. (online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14442213.2019.1634137)

Abstract

Flight attendant work, although now referred to with gender-neutral terminology, continues to be archetypically feminine. Male flight attendants are often assumed to be gay, which frequently includes an emasculated, hyper-sexualised dimension to the stereotyped minority within the female-dominated occupation. The ways in which straight men navigate this occupation and its gendered/hypersexualised connotations problematises both the notions of a gay community as well as flight attendant work as inherently or necessarily feminine. Based on ethnography amongst flight attendants who work for two international airlines, this paper considers how notions of masculinity and heteronormativity operate in a feminised occupational role and how workplace dynamics affect gendered senses of self and relations with others, including with coworkers and in the public.

Social Networks and the Resilient Livelihood Strategies of Dara-ang Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Ayuttacorn, A. (2019). “Social Networks and the Resilient Livelihood Strategies of Dara-ang Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand”, Geoforum, Volume 101, May 2019, pp. 28- 37. (online: http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/63760)6.

Abstract

This study examines Dara-ang women’s livelihood strategies as they struggle to negotiate environmental conservation policies. The Thai state adopts conservation ideology as a form of legitimation for its governance practices. As part of this, members of the Dara-ang ethnic minority group, who are migrants from Shan State, Myanmar, are both racialized and vilified for being supposed forest encroachers. When they are dispossessed of their agricultural land and forest products, some are forced to migrate to cities and become wage laborers. Based on ethnographic research, this study identifies and describes some of the capital assets and institutions that support women in strengthening their leadership roles. Dara-ang women form networks with domestic and international NGOs, academics, and businesspeople as a way to negotiate state control. They create alternative practices – namely organic farming, performance groups, and off-farm activities – as livelihood strategies to achieve sustainable use of natural resources and increased income, food security, and well-being.

Future Trajectories: Five Short Concluding Reflections

Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Khin Muang Lwin, Nang Shining, Pianporn Deetes. (2019). Future Trajectories: Five Short Concluding Reflections. In book Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River. Pp. 279- 303.

Abstract

The concluding chapter of this book titled “Future Trajectories” is comprised of reflections by five authors. The authors cover the past and present challenges of and work for the Salween River, and present their commentary on possible futures and future challenges.

A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research

Vanessa Lamb, Carl Middleton, Saw John Bright, Saw Tha Phoe, Naw Aye Aye Myaing, Nang Hom Kham, Sai Aum Khay, Nang Sam Paung Hom, Nan Aye Tin, Nang Shining,

Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue, Chayan Vaddhanaphuti. (2019). A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research. In book Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River. Pp. 107- 120.

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of civil society research on Salween, providing an overview of the existing knowledge of the basin and a start to identifying key knowledge gaps in support of more informed, inclusive, and accountable water governance in the basin.

Environmental Illness at Klity Creek (Thailand): A Karen Village’s Quest for Justice

Sitthikriengkrai, Malee. Nathan Porath. (2019) “Environmental Illness at Klity Creek (Thailand): A Karen Village’s Quest for Justice” in Behera, Maguni Charan (Ed.). Shifting Perspectives in Tribal Studies: From an Anthropological Approach to Interdisciplinarity and Consilience, Springer, Singapore. pp. 149 - 165. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811380891

Abstract

The paper problematises the context of tribal people’s struggle for environmental justice related to development model in a trajectory of community’s perception; government’s approach to development and attitude to industrial-induced health problems; and intervention of civil society. It describes community awareness and demand for health rights by the Karen people of Klity Creek in Thailand with the support of NGOs. Precisely, the paper reports suffering of the Karen people of Klity Creek from industrial lead pollution during the last two decades of the twentieth century and the protest the people have launched, with the help of NGOs, against the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) demanding that their illness be recognised as related to lead pollution. They also demanded chelation therapy which the MOPH was not willing to provide. With public support, they also took the Lead Company and the Department of Pollution Control to court. This paper discusses the events within the context of NGO support.

Disclosure of HIV Status among Shan Female Migrant Workers Living with HIV

Ayuttacorn, A.,Tangmunkongvorakul, A., Musumari, P. M., Srithanaviboonchai, K., Jirattikorn, A., & Aurpibul, L. (2019). PloS one,14(5), e0216382.pp. 1-17.

Disclosure of HIV status among Shan female migrant workers living with HIV in Northern Thailand: A qualitative study

This study highlighted the complex challenges of HIV status disclosure among HIV-positive Shan female migrant workers and the link between disclosure/non-disclosure and condom use. There is a pressing need to create realistic disclosure mechanisms that take into account the socio-cultural barriers to disclosure including marital conflicts, stigma, and gender norms. Messages to encourage condom use should be delivered carefully so that knowledge of the HIV transmission reduction qualities of good ART adherence does not serve as a barrier to condom use.

Becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand

Prasit Leepreecha. (2019) “Becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 50(1): 32-50.

Abstract

This article investigates the processes of becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand by tracing the transnational relationships and influences of global Indigenous movements on the creation of the Network and the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand (NIPT and CIPT). In addition, it examines the Indigenous Peoples’ movement toward both internal and external recognition. I argue that in Thailand the Indigenous Peoples movement stems from the global movement and exists in relation to international organisations. Within Thailand, the movement represents a deterritorialisation of the ethnoscape, with those now identified as Indigenous Peoples previously being identified as ‘tribal peoples’, ‘ethnic minorities’, or ‘Others’ who threatened national security. Indigenous Peoples are also self-identifying as native and marginalised peoples whose basic rights must be recognised and who advocate for equal treatment as citizens. Yet, the Indigenous Peoples’ movement in Thailand is developing through a process of ongoing negotiations with various internal and external sectors. As a Hmong anthropologist and long-time participant in the Indigenous movement in Thailand, in addition to secondary sources, I draw mainly on personal observations and interviews with key informants.

Trans-national Education System for Students from the Mekong Region Thai Universities

Thaklong, N., Leepreecha, Pl, Wittayapak, C., Mangkang, C. (2019) Trans-national Education System for Students from the Mekong Region Thai Universities. Asian Journal of University Education. 15(1). Pp. 2-19. 

The aim is of this research is to study issues of the trans-national education system of students from the Mekong region who are enrolled at Thai universities. Qualitative research was conducted to collect data from Bachelor's degree students who are studying at Thai universities. The research instruments were in the form of a questionnaire, which consisted of multiple choice and open-ended questions, based on the review of related literature on Trans-nationalism. The results demonstrated that students from the Mekong region who study at Thai universities use different sponsor to their study. Some students were granted a scholarship while others were self-supporting. However, all of them had the same aspiration: to apply the knowledge acquired in Thailand to benefit their country and the people around them after graduation. The problems faced by the students were related to language, culture, and food. Most of the students from Mekong region had to adjust themselves to the culture and the society they were living in. After their graduation, the students from the Mekong region expressed their concerned issues to the educational administrators in the Thai universities. The concerned issues are: international curriculums, student exchange programs and teaching materials should be more up-to-date and beneficial to the students.

Thai Television Dramas, a New Player in Asian Media Circulation: A Case Study of Full House Thai

“Thai Television Dramas, a New Player in Asian Media Circulation: A Case Study of Full House Thai” in Nobuko Kawashima and Hye-Kyung Lee (eds.). (2018) Asian Cultural

Flows: Cultural Policies, Creative Industries, and Media Consumers. Singapore: Springer, pp.167-182.

This paper examines the success of Full House Thai , a Thai remake of popular Korean drama “Full House”. First, it explores the indigenization of Korean elements in the Thai remake Full House , arguing that the success of Full House Thai lies not only on the attractiveness of Thai actor and actress but also on the Thai-ization of Korean elements. The second part looks at the reception of Asian audience towards Full House Thai . Taking the case of Vietnamese audience, the paper explores how Vietnamese audience interpret Thai remake version in relation to the original Korean version as well as with respect to Thai culture portrayed in the series. The aspects of Thai culture the paper asks Vietnamese audience to reflect upon include views on gender, roles of men and women, the portrayal of social class as well as romantic love. Data presented in this paper come from textual analysis as well as in-depth interviews with 15 Vietnamese audiences.

ชีวิตระหว่างการเคลื่อนย้ายของลูกเรือประมง

มาลี สิทธิเกรียงไกร. (2561) “ชีวิตระหว่างการเคลื่อนย้ายของลูกเรือประมง” ใน ชีวิตทางสังคมในการเคลื่อนย้าย, ประเสริฐ แรงกล้า (บก), หน้า 219-242, คณะสังคมวิทยาและมานุษยวิทยา

มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์

บทความนี้ให้ความสำคัญกับการอธิบายชีวิตลูกเรือประมงแต่ไม่ได้มอง ว่าพวกเขาเป็นแรงงานทาสหรือเหยื่อค้ามนุษย์ที่ยอมจำนนต่อการบังคับ ควบคุมของไต้ก๋งเรือเท่านั้น แต่พวกเขาพยายามดิ้นรนแสวงหาอิสรภาพ — 222 —มาลี สิทธิเกรียงไกร ออกจากขบวนการนี้ เมื่อได้หลุดรอดไปแล้ว ยังได้นำชุดประสบการณ์เดิม นี้ ไปใช้เพื่อช่วยเหลือผู้ที่ประสบปัญหาเช่นเดียวกับตนเอง โดยนำมิติด้าน เวลาและสถานที่มาอธิบายให้เห็นว่า การเคลื่อนย้ายของทุนในอุตสาหกรรม ประมงนั้นให้ความสำาคัญกับมิติด้านเวลาเพื่อให้การเคลื่อนย้ายของสิ่งของ และทุนดำเนินไปอย่างรวดเร็ว ลดต้นทุนค่าใช้จ่าย การเคลื่อนย้ายอย่าง รวดเร็วนี้บีบคั้นแรงงานจากลูกเรือประมง ทำให้ชีวิตลูกเรือประมงเสมือน เป็นเครื่องจักรทำงานอยู่ตลอดเวลา อย่างไรก็ตาม ลูกเรือประมงต่างก็ พยายามหนีออกจากการควบคุมของทุน บางคนสามารถหลบหลีกและนำประสบการณ์ตนเองไปใช้เพื่อประโยชน์คนอื่นต่อไป

การศึกษานี้ใช้วิธีการสัมภาษณ์เป็นรายกรณีและสนทนากลุ่ม อนึ่ง ด้วยข้อจำากัดของการเข้าถึงผู้ให้ข้อมูลและระยะเวลาการทำวิจัย ผู้เขียนจึงเลือกกลุ่มประชากรที่ศึกษาจากลูกเรือประมงที่ได้รับความช่วยเหลือจาก มูลนิธิเครือข่ายส่งเสริมคุณภาพชีวิตแรงงาน (Labor Rights Promotion Network: LPN) 3 กรณีคือ ทินกร พรชัย และเหยี่ยว

Dhamma Detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) Community. Merit-Making, Colon-Cleansing, and Excrement

Sitthikriengkrai, Malee. Nathan Porath. (2018). “Dhamma Detox at a Thai Buddhist (Asoke) Community. Merit-Making, Colon-Cleansing, and Excrement” in Anthropos. 113.2018. pp. 453- 466.

In Thailand there is a Buddhist movement called Santi Asok. In recent years one of its lay communities has developed a five-day bodily detoxification course for the good of the Thai public as a form of merit making. Participants who refrain from eating food and drink other than the intake of herbal tonics, undergo various forms of detoxification procedure and particularly colon cleansing. The course culminates in the inspection of the participants' stools followed by a lavish vegetarian meal. This paper analyzes the detox course as a ritual of the body constructed within the anti-materialist and merit-making moral values of the Asok Buddhist community. In this ritual human excrement becomes a symbol revealing the unhealthy polluting demerits of modern consumer society. It concludes that "shit" is a powerful and even dangerous "natural symbol" to moralize with. [Thailand, Buddhism, Santi Asok, detoxification, complementary and alternative medicine].