Abstract:
The study of the construction of "hilltribe" ethnic images in Thai society during 1880s-1980s aims to analyze the development and the changing of "hilltribe" images in their historical contexts. It was found that the "hilltribe" images may be divided into 2 periods: the pre-World War II (1880s-1930s) and the post-World War II (1940s-1980s). In the pre-world War II period, the Thai elites had a role in constructing images of the "hilltribes" or " savages". The main factors in the construction of "hilltribe" images were the ideas of social evolution, the building of the Siamese nation-state, and Thai nationalism. The "hilltribes" in that period were seen as "the Other", as foolish spirit worshippers (animists), as destroyers of the forest, and illegal traders of opium. In the post-World War II period the "hilltribe" images became more complex. After the 1950s, the "hilltribe" images clearly changed because of the communist insurgency in Thailand, and the Thai nationalist (ethnocentric) prejudices that represented the "hilltribes" as persons who were a threat to the security of the nation. During the regime of Field Marshal Sarit Dhanarajata (1959-1963), which developed the country by an economic development plan, the "hilltribe" were represented as people who impeded economic advance and destroyed forests, too. At the same time, it was found that the "hilltribe" images also portrayed people who led primitive yet beautiful way of life, these images resulting from Thailand's tourism promotion during that time.