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Journal of Asia Pacific Studies ( 2010) Vol 1, No 2, 292-311 Weapons of Mass Assimilation: A Critical Analysis of the Use of Education in Thailand Otto F. von Feigenblatt, Nova Southeastern University (USA) Vannapond Suttichujit, Lynn University (USA) Md Shukri Shuib, Universiti Utara Malaysia Mohamad Faisol Keling, Universiti Utara Malaysia Mohd Na’eim Ajis, Universiti Utara Malaysia Abstract: The present paper aims to problematize education in Thailand. Jan Nederveen Pieterse’s model of ethnic domination is used as the theoretical framework to reveal the important and often ignored role of education in perpetuating socioeconomic and political elite dominance in Thailand. Ethnic domination is complemented with Paulo Freire’s liberation pedagogy. The paper shows how ethnic and economic domination of a small Central Thai elite over the vast majority of the population is achieved through a concerted propaganda effort integrating primary and secondary education with tight control over religious practices and strict censorship of the media. Case studies are provided of the role of Ministry of Education in the central government’s attempt to forcefully integrate the Muslim Malay population in the Southern Provinces and the Lao (Isan) region in the North. Finally, the contested role of private education is discussed in relation to central control over education. The paper concludes that civic and religious education in primary and secondary schools is part of a broader strategy for the perpetuation of a narrow ethnocracy, and that the recent growth of the private education. An education model based on Freire’s concept of “conscientization” is proposed as guiding principle to empower the peoples of Siam. Keywords: Education, Liberation Pedagogy, Ethnic Domination, Thailand Introduction Thailand, formerly known as Siam, means “land of the free” (Rhum, 1996). However, the name is a play with words since “land of the Tai” is pronounced the same in Thai. The Tai are an ethnic group which migrated from southern China and settled in the Chao Phraya river basin more than four hundred years ago (Wyatt, 2003). More than fourteen million 292
Otto F. von Feigenblatt, Vannapond Suttichujit, Md Shukri Shuib, Mohamad Faisol Keling, and Mohd Na’eim Ajis students, at all educational levels, are taught a curriculum based on the idealized history of the Tai ethnic group, while only a third can be said to be Tai (Ministry-of-Education-of- Thailand, 2005). This is more than just another example of virulent nationalism of the post-colonial sort, but rather represents a concerted effort to keep power in the hands of a small Tai traditional elite and their entourage. What is at stake is not only the content of history textbooks but the security of thousands of people belonging to ethnic minorities, their incomes, the natural resources of the country, and the economic opportunities of millions of people in the provinces. Thus, education is linked to political and economic development. Democracy and economic equity are directly affected by education and in turn set the limits to individual capabilities and opportunities. This paper explores how the present hegemonic Tai based curriculum favors a certain socio-cultural stratum of the population and brings about negative externalities such as the asymmetric development of the country, predatory resource extraction, decreased levels of human and social capital, and ultimately violent conflict. The following section introduces the theoretical background of this study as well as the normative assumptions of the recommendations provided in the final section of the paper. Theoretical Framework This study follows the critical research tradition in that its main purpose is to unveil hidden structures of oppression and domination and by doing this promoting the empowerment and actualization of those in need (Murphy & Dingwall, 2007; Stuart Sim, 2005; Willis, 2007). The theoretical approach followed is a hybrid between the concept of Human Security, based on the need for “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear”, Amartya Sen’s concept of development as freedom, and Paulo Freire’s liberation pedagogy (Berthoff, 1990; Feigenblatt, 2009a; King & Murray, 2001; Sen, 1999). There is a clear normative bias in favor of those suffering from absolute and relative deprivation in comparison to a small Bangkok based elite which controls most of the natural resources and virtually all 293
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