Bangkok continues to exert such a strong influence on perceptions of Thailand and its society that it always refreshing to learn more about the nitty gritty of life beyond the metropolis.
Over the years I think it would be fair to say that the Bangkok-based media has paid less attention to regional issues that it should. This is probably inevitable for a country with such a dominant “primate city” but it does lead to sometimes distorted perceptions of Thailand and its people.
In an effort to provide English language news from an under-reported corner of the country The Issan Record is off to a strong start. It has been operating since early 2011 and provides regular commentary on political and economic matters in northeast Thailand. A fair chunk of its attention is being devoted to tracking the evolution of various protest movements in that region. Today it alerts us that:
Non Dindaeng district [Buriram province] police investigators filed trespassing and destruction of government property charges against three village leaders yesterday for their village’s continued settlement on disputed land in the Dongyai Forest Preserve. The charges stem from an ongoing land dispute between the members of the Kao Baat forest village, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Royal Forestry Department (RFD), and the Thai military.
These strike me as exactly the kind of story that we should be hearing more about. Kudos to The Issan Record for their efforts to provide ongoing coverage from northeast Thailand.
As an aside, New Mandala readers intrigued by academic commentary on land disputes and village evictions in another region of Thailand may also want to check out some of these older materials (here, here and here).
Yes. Thanks for drawing our attention to the Isaan Record. They are doing a very good job covering the issues they do in Northeast Thailand. I would not have known of their existence but for your earlier advertisement of them here. Thanks.
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In australia, I am exacly feeling the same way! There isn’t enough voices from non-mainstream Australian culture in the public forum. I am thinking about the lack of voices and understanding of new wave of migrants, those who live in the bush, aboriginal, people from the islands which are part of Australia. I hardly heard about their culture.
This is similar to Thailand where sub-cultures do not receive enough attention from the media. Sad but true.
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Nattavud Pimpa
So you’re saying the Isaan people are a “non-mainstream sub-culture”? They happen to make up the majority of Thais.
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Stuart,
Not really. I am not talking about quantity. I am talking about representation in the mainstream media, as posted by John and Nicholas.
Stuart, What constitute ‘mainstream’?
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Stuart – 3
So you’re saying the Isaan people are a “non-mainstream sub-culture”? They happen to make up the majority of Thais.
Stuart are you possibly being a touch too picky. Possibly even being just a bit too clever for your own good as my mother would say.
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Nattavud Pimpa
I don’t know. You used it, so why don’t you tell me?
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Stuart,
you don’t know? Really?
I thought you do because in you post, I saw that big word in the question. Thus, my question. Perhaps, our interpretation of mainstream is dissimilar. or perhaps, our intentions to post on this forum are dissimilar.
what do you think?
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Nattavud Pimpa
I think we can do without the rhetorical questions. Like sarcasm, they are the last resort of the dim.
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There are about 20 million people living in the Isaan region.
This number can vary as many work outside of the provinces; a great majority in Bangkok in the service and construction industries.
The red shirt movement has strong support in the Isaan provinces especially Ubon Ratchathani and Udon. They claim to support the plight of the rural poor.
The Isaan language is an oral language and is closely associated to the Lao language both written and spoken. there are also strong cultural links pertaining to the arts and food culture, Think ‘Som Tam and larp.
The Isaan culture may be viewed as ‘marginalized’ as it is not acknowledged in the Central Thai Education system which is taught all over Thailand.
Isaan people are stereotyped in the mainstream entertainment media as backward and usually are resigned to comical roles.
It’s ironic as one of the most popular Thai movies to go mainstream on the international movie circuit was ‘Ong Bak’.
Tony Jaa an Isaan local took the Isaan culture to the world.
In terms of international recognition it has surpassed nearly all movies coming out of the capitals mainstream. These ironically can be viewed as truly marginalized as they lack the appeal to a world audience.
A vast majority of Thailand’s rice crop comes out of Issan yet the value placed on the role of rice farmers who feed the nation has never been viewed as a position of prestige, quite the opposite.
The Thai class system treats them much the same way as many other Asian nations in the region do, more or less like peasants with no real status.
Thailand is highly centralized to the provinces in and around Bangkok and fails in many cases to acknowledge the many sub-cultures that co-exist outside the capital be it in the north, north east, west and of course the southern regions where the Malay influence is prominent.
Bangkok may be the capital of Thailand yet it is the different sub-cultures together that make the whole of this diverse nation even if the mainstream media which is centralized in Bangkok paints a different picture.
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to add to John
we should not forget that Phumjaithai, Nevin and other members are also Isan!!! (and they used to be a key man in forming the govt, many did not like)
oh Sarit and Thanom, the former Two Thai PM, though Thanom was from Tak, are also Isan-like (and many Thai middle class did not like them too!)
lots of tv scenes are also Isan-like, yet they have been distorted and subordinated, but Isan peoples like and dislike them
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Has there been a recent study of Bangkok’s middle class? I suspect from personal observation that it has changed in its make up considerably over the last thirty years. When I first came to Bangkok I suspect a very large proportion, possibly even a majority, was of Chinese ethnicity. (I’m sure if we put the clock back another twenty years there would be no doubt this was the case.)
Now I would suppose the majority were Thai either born in the provinces, or first generation born in Bangkok, still with strong links back to the country. Of these I again suppose that the majority would be of Isaan stock. The brightest kids from the northeast do tend to end up in Bangkok one way or another.
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Les,
Google a 2009 PhD thesis entitled ‘Status City: Consumption, Identity, and Middle Class Culture in Contemporary Bangkok’ – you can access a PDF version. Might be of some use to you.
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ryan – 12
Ryan thanks for that. I have saved it and will read it later.
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