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Weapons of Mass Assimilation: A Critical Analysis of the use of Education in Thailand of the two previous assertions are the lack of understanding when it comes to concepts such as democracy and the rule of law shown by the majority of the population as well as popularity of the monarchy among a large part of the population (Albritton & Bureekul, 2004, 2007). Another important effect has been the spread of the myth of an ancient Thai unitary Nation-State destined to become present day Thailand. It is surprising how uninformed the average Thai citizen is about history. Due to the distorted version of history they are taught in school they learn historical propaganda rather than what actually happened in their region. One prominent example is the history of Thai script. Most experts agree that it slowly developed from Lao and that it was not properly codified until the late 18 th century, however official Thai history claims that it was singlehandedly invented by King Ramkhamhaeng at a much earlier date (Perkasa, 2008). Other examples of distorted historical views involve the role of Thailand during World War II, in which it was allied with the axis powers. The main result of education in relation to nationalist history is to justify the present by making up the past. A related effect has been the forceful assimilation of most minority groups in Thailand. As it was explained in the introductory sections of this paper, Siam was a multicultural state rather than a unitary nation-state. Regional variation in terms of culture has suffered a gradual erosion due to public education. Local practices have given way to national civic culture in both the cultural and religious realms. Some minorities such as Chinese outside of Bangkok have undergone cultural assimilation to such an extent that they have given up Taoism and do not speak any dialect of Chinese. Instability has resulted in some regions due to opposition to the previously mentioned attempted cultural assimilation. The most prominent case is that of the Muslim South in which schools and temples are often attacked by militants as clear symbols of central Thai oppression (McCargo, 2008). In this case education is an important grievance held by the local population and at the same time a powerful weapon in the hands of the central government. Both sides attempt to use education to preserve their group 306
Otto F. von Feigenblatt, Vannapond Suttichujit, Md Shukri Shuib, Mohamad Faisol Keling, and Mohd Na’eim Ajis identity and to press their claims both on history and on present political and economic control over the region. Liberation Pedagogy Freire’s liberation pedagogy can serve as a good model for education reform in Thailand. This approach to education was developed for a Third World country, Brazil, and it is meant to be elicitive rather than prescriptive. What this means is that liberation pedagogy is supposed to guide the student in the learning process rather than impose a single path. In other words, liberation pedagogy is about empowering children to learn, by giving them the opportunity to name their world. By naming their world, what is meant is that students are encouraged to go beyond the veil of official discourse set by the center and are allowed to describe things as they see them (Berthoff, 1990). Their perspectives are not only welcomed but are given primacy over official orthodoxy. The results of this approach to education go beyond the attainment of instrumental knowledge but also help develop the overall character of the child. Empowerment is achieved by awakening the potential already possessed by the child. Thus the goal of liberation pedagogy is to free the minds of children and improving their self-esteem. It is clear that some of the goals of liberation pedagogy are necessary in order to institute sustainable participatory democracy. Therefore, the application of this model for Thailand would have positive effects not only in terms of economic growth, greater creativity, but also in educating the future generations to be better citizens. Some Possible Changes to the Thai Education System Taking liberation pedagogy as the guiding theoretical framework several important changes could be made to the present Thai education system. First of all the curriculum should reflect a greater emphasis on analytical tasks and creativity rather than simply rote learning. One way in which this could be achieve is by eliminating some of the periods devoted to Buddhism, morals, and ethics and merging them into a course called social studies. This new course should 307
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