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Accurate representation of Thai culture and society: Challenges in a comprehensive reference book

This paper examines the issue of misrepresentation of Thai culture and society by Westerners and seeks to understand and transcend distortions. It reviews the challenges of creating a comprehensive reference book on Thailand.

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Accurate representation of Thai culture and society: Challenges in a comprehensive reference book

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  1. “Representing Thai Culture and Society Accurately and Fairly: The Challenges of Doing an Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Reference Book on Thailand”Paper presented at the 11th International Conference on Thai Studies: Visions of the FutureGerald W. Fry Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and DevelopmentUniversity of Minnesota

  2. Objective of the Paper • To examine critically the issue of Westerners tending to distort and misrepresent Thai culture and society. “Orientalism revisited” (Said) • To seek to understand multiple “realities” and transcend misrepresentations and distortions • To review the major challenges in doing a comprehensive reference work on Thailand

  3. Context for This Study • Dramatic changes in Thailand during the past decade; therefore, the need for a new and significantly revised edition of the Historical Dictionary of Thailand. • I am now starting my sixth decade of doing work on Thailand. Thus, I bring some historical perspective to the task. • I have had extensive experience in doing reference books during the past two decades and was about to propose this kind of book to another major publisher. Was an editor of the six volume set, Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, the major reference work on this region of the world.

  4. The Critical Need to Make Value Premises and Assumptions Explicit (Gunnar Myrdal)

  5. My Key Value Premises • Black Gold (social justice, equality, equity, access of all to quality education) • Yellow Gold (cultural preservation, cultural democracy; development of cultural intelligence, competency; development of “software of the mind”) • Blue Gold (sustainable development, sufficiency economy, clean air and water ) • Green Gold (preservation of forests, social forestry, development of green campuses, Mahidol, e.g.) • Highly positive feelings toward Thailand and its people.

  6. Key Assumptions • It is not only Westerners who can misrepresent Thailand, but also Thais themselves (e.g., “hired guns” or those deeply concerned about protecting Thailand’s image abroad) • It is not impossible for Westerners to understand Thailand. The “inscrutable East” is a myth. • There is, however, indeed a “crisis of representation” and many Westerners do distort and misrepresent Thailand.

  7. Theoretical/Conceptual Frameworks • Buddhist epistemology • Edward Said’s Orientalism; Michel Foucault • Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies • Academic colonialism/imperialism (Altbach, Alatas, Hereniko)

  8. Yes, you may well doubt, you may well be uncertain... Do not accept anything because it is the authoritative tradition, because it is often said, because of rumor or hearsay, because it is found in the scriptures, because it agrees with a theory of which one is already convinced, because of the reputation of an individual, or because a teacher said it is thus and thus… But experience it for yourself. The Lord Buddha The Kalama Sutta

  9. Theoretical/Conceptual Frameworks • Slippage in total quality control (Deming) • Roshomon effect (Heider) • Historical amnesia; tempocentrism (Zinn, Chomsky)

  10. Three Major Areas of Misrepresentation • Writings on Buddhism • Writings on the monarchy and royal family • Writings on Thai gender issues

  11. Methodology and Methods • Informal conversational interviews • Mixed research methods (Creswell, 2009) • Content and text analysis • Meta-synthesis • Collection and analysis of documents

  12. Historical Context: Examples of Misrepresentations, Misunderstandings, and Ignorance • Anna Leonowens’ writings related to King Rama IV which inspired Margaret Landon’s book, Anna and the King of Siam, which in turn became the basis for the Hollywood film, “The King and I” • Louis Lomax’s book, The War that Is: The War that Will Be • William Stevenson’s The Revolutionary King

  13. Historical Context: Examples of Misrepresentations, Misunderstandings, and Ignorance • The Longman dictionary definition of Bangkok • Film, “The Good Woman of Bangkok” • “Hollywood Buddha” incident • Victoria Secret incident

  14. Influence of Books/Films on Thailand • “The King & I”, N=2,605 • Landon, Anna and the King of Siam, N=2,123; translated into 23 languages • Books by Anna Leonowens, N= 1,009 • Lomax’s book on Thai politics, N= 696 • Keyes’ Thailand,Buddhist Kingdom as Modern Nation-State, N=574 • Most recent edition of the Historical Dictionary of Thailand, N=214

  15. Assessment of the Second Edition of the Dictionary: Overall a Valuable Comprehensive Volume, but Some Major Omissions • No entries on: • King Rama II • King Rama VIII • Prince Mahidol • Princess GalyaniVadhana • Prince Wan Waithayakon • M.L. BounluaThepyasuwan • Dr. ThanatKhoman • SunthornPhu • Sri Burapha

  16. Omissions Continued • No entries on: • Prince Subhandradis Diskul • The Victory Monument • Mechai Viravaidya • Banyananta Bhikku • Tao Suranari • Seni Saowapong • Thailand Information Center (Chula) • Santi Asokha

  17. Some Factual Mistakes: The Total Quality Control Issue • Thai Rak Thai having 248 seats in the 1996 Parliament; and 375 seats in the 2001 Parliament. • The Dictionary states that Dr. Thaksin’s trial on concealing assets occurred the year before he was first elected Prime Minister; actually it occurred about seven months after he was in office. • The Dictionary states that there are five national holidays when in fact there are 13.

  18. The Bibliography • The bibliography in the previous edition is impressively comprehensive, but needs up-dating. • In a global era, the bibliography needs to be more international; more entries from Europe, Latin America, and the rest of Asia are being included. • A small highly selective bibliography in Thai is being added.

  19. Major Problems in Writing about Thailand • Factual errors; quality control issues; not being mindful to get it right; need three independent sources on any controversial issues • “Objectivity” and bias in writing; need to be balanced • Special complexities related to writing about the monarchy (Streckfuss, 2011)

  20. Difficulties, Frustrations, and Limitations • What to include, what to exclude • No direct notes or citations • Avoid being judgmental

  21. Valuable Data Sources • Thai newspapers, particularly, The Nation, The Bangkok Post (and their annual and semi-annual reviews), Matichon, and Matichon Sabadawijan • The Siam Almanac (when it was being published) • Matichon’s review of the past year, particularly 2010

  22. Valuable Data Sources • The new office and valuable publications of the National Statistical Office • Nicolas Grossman, ed., Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News since 1946. Bangkok: Bangkok Post & Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2010. • Cremation volumes (valuable genre of gray literature)

  23. .

  24. Valuable Data Sources—continued • The Thailand Information Center at Chulalongkorn University • The National Library of Thailand • The Library of the Siam Society • Huge number of Thai connections on Facebook; potentially I can contact nearly every Thai on the planet who is on Facebook. • My Thai family and literally thousands of Thai friendships formed over six decades

  25. Professor Charles (Biff) F. Keyes

  26. The Insightful Work of Charles Keyes • “The color of politics: Thailand’s deep crisis of authority” • “Dealing with ‘the devil’, the reds and looking within,” May 25, 2011, Bangkok Post • “From peasants to cosmopolitan villagers: Reconfiguring the ‘rural’ in northeastern Thailand”

  27. Tatpicha Nunta: An Example of the New Cosmpolitan Isaan Person: nine years in South Africa; three years in Jamaica; and > than a year in the USA

  28. Vision of the Future • I have already been asked to do the next fourth edition which I am eager to do (assuming good health and energy), but I must find an appropriate Thai co-author with whom to collaborate. • I anticipate that the next edition (fourth) will be totally electronic and virtual with easy up-dating into the future with “unlimited” size

  29. Berry, Chris, Annette Hamilton, Laleen Jayamanne, and Dennis O'Rourke. The Filmmaker and the Prostitute: Dennis O'Rourke's The Good Woman of Bangkok. Sydney: Power Publications, 1997. Chomsky, Noam. Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship. New York: The New Press, 2003. Krippendorf, K. Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology. California: Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc, 2004. Foucault, Michel, and Colin Gordon. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. Harrison, Rachel V. and Peter A. Jackson (eds). The Ambiguous Allure of the West: Traces of the Colonial in Thailand. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010. References

  30. Iskander, Adel, and Hakem Rustom. Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. Lutz, Catherine, and Collins, Jane Lou. Reading National Geographic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Myrdal, Gunnar. Objectivity in Social Research. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books, 1999. References

  31. Thank you for your attention! Gerald W. Fry Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development University of Minnesota Contact information: gwf@umn.edu 612-624-0294

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