Janpha Thadphoothon
Thailand, like many others, is facing new and pressing challenges, due largely to external factors. It's harder and more complicated to 'maintain' and cultivate Thai national identities in Thai youths and younger generations.
What's more is the advent of new communication technologies, like social media platforms, making the cultivation of one's national identity highly challenging and complicated. Nowadays, youths do not seem to be as obedient as their parents' they are more rebellious and seem to refuse the power that be or the establishment.
This makes the creation of 'national myth' a hiccup.
Myths have been created to sustain national harmony and common values have been installed to make on'e's identity relevant and meaningful. In the past, such national identity cultivation was more linear and straightforward.
Under the current context, how can we cultivate our national identity and values? How can we maintain our identity? Or are we asking the wrong questions? For one thing, identities are sometimes flexible and it evolves with time.
It's high time Thailand rethink it's own construction and future direction. It's one thing to devise a set of slogans like sustainability or prosperity, it's another to mean what is stated and make it happen. This may require active participation of everybody. Exclusivity might have been accepted in the past, but today it's the mantra lies in the inclusiveness, where the voice of one in counted and matters,
Exclusiveness seems to be the thing of the past. It's harder to be listed in the The 21st century discourse. The same thing holds true with exclusive patriotism, the notion that only some groups are more patriotic, others are less so. This exclusivity brings divisions and may create dissonance in the effort to build national identities.
The discourse of distrust and partiality seems to be prevalent in the country. Such the discourse seems to have been disguised as 'anti-corruption' language or slogan, assigning blames to certain groups like politicians and business people. This construction is another that is bound to fail as it lacks true and ardent participation from all sectors and stakeholders.
National identity is an identity that needs everybody's input and it may take time. I am of course talking about the 'new' national identity', the identity that would help bring us sail cross the ocean of uncertainties and challenges.
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