タイにおける国家とインフォーマルな権力

京都大学新制・論文博士博士(地域研究)乙第13549号論地博第32号新制||地||123(附属図書館)京都大学大学院法学研究科(主査)教授 玉田 芳史, 教授 岡本 正明, 准教授 中西 嘉宏学位規則第4条第2項該当Doctor of Area StudiesKyoto UniversityDGA

Dystopia as Liberation: Disturbing Femininities in Contemporary Thailand

Despite the stereotypical, outsider view of Thailand as a thriving hub of international sex tourism, traditional and local constructions of Thainess instead privilege the position of the ‘good’ Thai woman—a model of sexual propriety, demure physicality and aesthetic perfection. This is the image of femininity that is heralded by Thailand's Tourist Authority and by government agencies alike as a marketable symbol of cultural refinement and national pride. But this disturbing ‘utopian’ construction of femininity might for some be considered a dystopia shaped by forms of power centred on elite urban rule. In mainstream definitions of Thainess, the monstrous and grotesque inverses of ‘good’ womanhood are located in the ‘dystopian’ visions of rural-based folk traditions that abound with malevolent female spirits and demons, and in the contemporary Thai horror films that draw on these tropes. Adopted by Thai feminists and by street protestors in Bangkok at times of recent political unrest, portrayals of a ‘monstrous-feminine’ have been adopted as central to a carnivalesque strategy of response and resistance to elite discourses of control. Such forces serve to symbolically disturb and destabilise middle-class constructions of a Utopian vision of Thainess with Bangkok as its cultural core. This paper examines instances of how and why the counter-strategy of primitivism and monstrosity has developed, and the extent to which it translates ‘dystopian’ expressions of female sexuality in new imaginaries of ‘dystopia’ as a space of liberation from stultifying cultural and political norms

The Political Frontier of Rubber Plantations in Northeastern Thailand

The promotion of rubber plantations in Northeastern Thailand has significantly shaped the region's political and socioeconomic landscape. Originally introduced to an economically marginalized, arid area, rubber cultivation gained momentum as Thailand transitioned from military-dominated rule to an electoral system in the late 1980s-a period marked by the rise of provincial business networks and increased civil society engagement in politics. With the Northeast holding a substantial portion of parliamentary seats, rubber plantations elevated the region's political relevance within Thailand. This impact became particularly evident in the 2000s, when electoral politics reached its peak. Drawing on surveys, stakeholder interviews, and field research, this article examines the contested political power surrounding rubber plantation policies. Analyzing dynamics at the national, provincial, and community levels, the study illustrates how rubber policy frameworks were shaped by different political regimes, how political networks were mobilized through various channels, and how these forces influenced local communities engaged in rubber cultivation

Building Programmatic Linkages in the Periphery: The Case of the TRT Party in Thailand

Did the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party of Thailand, the first party in the country’s history to gain parliamentary dominance in 2001, represent a departure from traditional clientelistic Thai parties or was it old wine in a new bottle? This article argues that the TRT represented a new hybrid party that successfully established programmatic linkages in rural parts of the country by systematizing its use of informal social networks in local communities. By routinizing recruitment, training, and evaluation of its parliamentary candidates and their vote-canvassing networks, the TRT imparted midlevel politicians with the incentives and ability to promote the party’s policy agenda to rural voters and to cultivate new policy-oriented linkages alongside traditional clientelistic ones. By identifying specific organizational mechanisms by which the TRT combined programmatic and clientelistic linkages with rural voters, this study contributes to literature that examines hybrid party strategies as well as informal party organization. </jats:p

Regime Consolidation Through Deinstitutionalisation: A Case Study of the 2019 Elections in Thailand

Studies of elections held by autocrats often assume that institutions are strengthened in order to increase the leverage of the dictator. Yet, it can also be the case that institutions are purposely weakened when autocrats allow for elections. This is what happened in the 2019 Thai elections. These elections were notable not for advancing “national reform” or democratisation, but for the deinstitutionalisation of the party system. Through three mechanisms – constitutional engineering, electoral manipulation, and legal rulings – Thailand's royalist elites were able to deinstitutionalise the opposition and undermine a fair, democratic process. This paper outlines these mechanisms of deinstitutionalisation that distorted the outcome of the 2019 elections