Abstract:
This thesis aimed to study the practice of Thai government service teachers in the context of economic, social, and political changes in the Mid-South of Thailand through a case study of government service teachers in the Ratsadorn Thai School (pseudonym), Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province. This thesis has three important research questions: (1) how has the emergence of government service teachers in the Mid-South region developed in the context of the history of the establishment of the Thai nation-state? (2) How do government service teachers in the Mid-South region, practice their work and daily lives in the fields of power relations under the context of being government service teachers and intellectuals? (3) How do government service teachers adapt, negotiate, and express their intellectual stance under the context of economic, social, and political changes in the local Mid-South? The study found that since the 1890s, the central government has integrated the Mid-South region into a part of the nation-state. These conditions led to establishing state schools and teacher training institutes in the Mid-South region as a main mechanism for nation-state building. However, in the context after the 1932 revolution until the 1970s, which was the period of the creation of the Thai nation-state through the promotion of democratic ideology and economic development by the Thai state, the above context led to a significant number of teachers in the Mid-South region to become involved in the change by becoming a member of the house of representative who were the voices of the local people. Some teachers joined the Communist Party of Thailand to fight against the Thai state. At the same time, it was found that teachers formed groups and presented themselves as writers, thinkers, or local intellectuals to produce knowledge for the public sphere. It can be said that in the history of the creation of the Thai nation-state, teachers in the Mid-South region still had the status of intellectuals who had knowledge and participated in pushing for social, economic, and political changes. The study also found that at present, the teachers have express the role of intellectuals in a new form, by using the school space to provoke political awareness among student and using the digital platform space to express their social and political stances. Significant numbers of government service teachers have adapted and negotiated with the context of the current demands for the rights and freedoms of Thai students. In addition, in the context neoliberal economic competition, it has resulted in a significant number of government service teachers becoming teachers in tutoring schools and/or tutoring institute operators to respond to these changed. It can be said that the practices of these Mid-South teachers are a reflection of their government service teacher within social, economic, and political changes in the Mid-South Thailand.