The Moral Community and The Contestations of Politics in Thailand

摘要

This paper focuses on the formation and transformation of moral community which refers to a unification of power, beliefs and emotions in the charismatic power of monarchy, and morality in religion that unite many Thais into a single community. Even though the Thai moral community has long been constructed and reproduced since the Siam modern-nation state of 19th century, especially during the reign of King Rama IX. However, this paper argues that the Thai moral community had never been unified, it has frequently been faced with contestations from the challenges of the social sub-functions. This can be seen since the Siam modern-nation state period until the current Thai political conflicts and polarization, as witnessed during political conflicts among the yellow and red shirts, and the PDRC (the People's Democratic Reform Committee) over the last decade. Those has finally led to the struggles for power in the meaning of Thai politics and the challenges to the political and social order based on the hegemonic power of monarchy, moral politics and royal-nationalism discourse of Thailand, especially after the military coup of 2006 and 2014.