Abstract
The past years have seen a significant shift in the configuration of political space in Thailand, metaphorically and literally. The rudimentary but progressive development of politics along programmatic and ideological fault lines between political and social groups has led to bitter contestations both within the political structure as well as in physical space. This chapter aims to draw a dialectic connection between the two, structure and space, based on an analysis of the site of the most recent political protests, Ratchaprasong intersection in the modern city center of Bangkok. The chapter is thoroughly embedded in the spatial turn and makes use of theories of space and place to shed light on the broader significance of this specific urban center. Historically, urban protests took place in the old part of Bangkok along Ratchadamnoen Avenue, a street that increasingly resembles an outdoor museum. The recent wave of demonstrations at Ratchaprasong intersection between shopping malls, offices, shrines, a palace, and an elite university signifies a change not only of place but of the quality of political discourse. Protests in the old city came to acquire a merely performative quality on a stage set by the state that starkly contrasts with the new and lived site that is Ratchaprasong intersection. It will be shown that, even in times of cyberspace, political conflict needs physical space, yet not any kind of space but one that gives meaning to a specific kind of conflict.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Askew, M. (1994). Interpreting Bangkok: The urban question in Thai studies. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.
Augé, M. (2008). Non-places: An introduction to supermodernity. London: Verso.
Barnes, W. (2010, June 17). Smoke (and mirrors) behind Bangkok fires. Asia Times Online. Retrieved June 20, 2012, from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LF17Ae01.html
Boonchuen, P. (2002). Globalization and urban design: Transformations of civic space in Bangkok. International Development Planning Review, 24(4), 401–417.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Physischer, sozialer und angeeigneter physischer Raum. In M. Wentz (Ed.), Stadt-Räume [City-spaces] (pp. 25–34). Frankfurt: Campus.
Crispin, S. (2012, March 30). Daring double game in Thailand. Asia Times Online. Retrieved May 15, 2012, from: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NC30Ae01.html
Gray, C (1986). Thailand: The Soteriological State in the 1970s. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Anthropology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Halbwachs, M. (1950). Space and the collective memory. In M. Halbwachs (Ed.), From the collective memory, Chapter 4. Retrieved April 26, 2010, from http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/hawlbachsspace.pdf
Handley, P. M. (2006). The King never smiles: A biography of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Herzfeld, M. (2006). Spatial cleansing: Monumental vacuity and the idea of the West. Journal of Material Culture, 11(1/2), 127–149.
Hollier, D. (1992). Against architecture: The writings of Georges Bataille. Boston: MIT Press.
Hon Ayodhya (2010). Athan Wang Phetchabun. Ratchaprasong tong kham sap [The mystery of Wang Phetchabun: Ratchaprasong must be cursed]. Bangkok: Bangkok Books.
Keyes, C. (2006). The destruction of a shrine to brahma in Bangkok and the fall of Thaksin Shinawatra: The occult and the Thai coup in Thailand of September 2006 (Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series, No. 80). Singapore: National University of Singapore.
Koompong, N. (2007). The democracy monument: Ideology, identity, and power manifested in built forms. Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies, 5(3), 29–49.
Krungthon, T. (2010). Kong kam prawatsat: Taksin returns [The cycle of karma history: Taksin Returns]. The Voice of Taksin 1(12), 5–10.
Lao, S. (2010). Athan: Wang tong ham [Mystery: The forbidden palace]. Bangkok: Siam Banthuek.
McCargo, D., & Naruemon, T. (2010). Urbanized villagers in the 2010 Thai Redshirt protests: Not just poor farmers? Asian Survey, 51(6), 993–1018.
Phongpaichit, P., & Baker, C. (2008, December 2). The spirits, the stars, and Thai politics. Lecture, Siam Society, Bangkok.
Prakitnonthakan, C. (2008, January 15). Memory and power on Ratchadamnoen avenue. Prachatai. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from: http://prachatai.com/english/node/484
Prakitnonthakan, C. (2009). Sinlapa-sathapattayakam khana ratsadon: Sanyalak thang kanmueang nai choeng udomkan [The art and architecture of the People’s Party: The principal political symbols]. Bangkok: Matichon.
Soja, A. (1989). Postmodern geographies: The reassertion of space in critical social theory. London: Verso.
Truc, G. (2011). Memory of places and places of memory: For a Halbwachsiansocio-ethnography of collective memory. International Social Science Journal, 62(203–204), 147–159.
Ünaldi, S. (2013a). Ratchaprasong kon cha mi CentralWorld: Wang Phetchabun kheha sathan thi thuk luem [Ratchaprasong before CentralWorld: The Forgotten Palace Wang Phetchabun]. Warasan Aan [Read Journal], 4(3), 170–186.
Ünaldi, S. (2013b). Working towards the monarchy and its discontents: Anti-royal graffiti in downtown Bangkok. Journal of Contemporary Asia. Doi: 10.1080/00472336.2013.842260
Ünaldi, S. (2013c). On His Majesty’s service: Bangkok’s architects between autonomy and heteronomy. The Journal of Architecture, 18(3), 425–448.
Ünaldi, S. (forthcoming). Ratchaprasong before CentralWorld: The disappearance of Phetchabun Palace as a reflection of Thai power. Asian Studies Review.
Vorng, S. (2011). Bangkok’s two centers: Status, space, and consumption in a millennial Southeast Asian City. City & Society, 23(S1), 66–85.
Warf, B., & Arias, S. (2009). The spatial turn: Interdisciplinary perspectives. London: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ünaldi, S. (2014). Politics and the City: Protest, Memory, and Contested Space in Bangkok. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Contemporary Socio-Cultural and Political Perspectives in Thailand. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7244-1_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7244-1_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7243-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7244-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)