iieiiei1eWrkers - Leicester Research Archive - University of Leicester

As unemployment has grown steadily, from 1.06 million in 1982 to 1.68
million in 1985 (Bank of Thailand, 1985) so have the figures for female and
child labour and prostitution, which are estimatated at 1.3 million and 500,000
respectively (Civil Liberty Union, 1985). The government's balance sheet now
depends heavily on in-flows of foreign currency from tourism and remittances
from Thai labour working abroad, particularly in the Middle-East. These
sources of overseas earnings have now superseded rice exports. In 1983, these
two categories, ranked 1st and 3rd, together made up 67% of the total inflow.
Privatisation is also at the top of the current agenda but public protests and
union resistance has so far slowed down the process.
In common with disillusioned students and intellectuals in the 1970s, the new
generation of activists is challenging authority in a renewed effort to define the
concepts of equality, social justice and democracy from an alternative perspective
through their involovement in the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such
as those dealing with human rights, child labour, and women's rights. In
response, the realigned power bloc, formed by the coalition of the military and
civilian government, had re-emphasised the traditional institutions of Buddhism
and the monarchy. These are the most fundamental ideological institutions in
Thai society and they have proved decisive in times of political crises, for both
the right and the left. Although Sarit was able to exploit the symbol of the
monarchy and suppress religious autonomy, during his regime in the early
1960s, events in the 1970s demonstrated that the radical right slogan of
'Nation-Religion-King' could not contain the waves of struggle brought about by
social transformation and ideological upheaval of that period. As a consequence,
modifications have been made to accommodate demand for religious reforms
coming from moderates and radicals in the Sangha. At the same time, there
have been incessant national celebrations of the monarchy throughout the 1980s.
They include; the Rattanakosin Bicentennial in 1982; the king's 60th birthday in
1987; and the 42nd anniversary of the coronaiton of the longest reigning
monarch of the Chakri dynasty in 1988. But despite these strenuous efforts,
there remains a fundamental disjunction between the rhetoric of a peaceful and
pIOSpOUS kingdom, under a righteous king, based on Dhamma - the other
worldly happiness - and the daily reality of poverty and rising consumerism in
a capitalist system. How this disjunction is addressed or ignored in the major
mass medium - popular radio - is the subject of this thesis. But before
embarking on a detailed examination, it is necessary to look a liitle more
closely at the main elements of ideology in play in Thai society at the present
time and the tensions and contradictions between them.
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