Abstract:
The relationship unit known as the family was officially defined and became a basic building block of the Thai state when King Vajiravudh Rama VI promulgated the surname act in 1913. This dissertation has chosen to investigate the politics of the family, which had not received much interest from previous studies. This study focuses on the formation of the state in gender aspects, starting from the first official definition of the family during the absolutist era up to the amendment of the family law during the development era. This dissertation investigates important issues including how the family related to Thai politics, how the state attempted to regulate familial interactions, and how the family law was negotiated. This investigation is conducted through a thorough survey of various state projects, such as, the reference of the monarch as father, the definition of the family as a subsection of the nation, the promulgation and amendments of the family law, state building through the culture of aiding the family, the drafting of constitutions, foreign affairs, and family development projects. This dissertation proposes that the family was one of the centers of modern Thai politics. For the absolutist state, the family politics was tied to the reference of the monarch as father of the nation, while the post-1932 revolution family politics was related to the nation building campaign, especially in the cultural sphere, by assigning men as leaders of the families and women as wives and mothers. Later, in the post-Second World War, the family politics expanded to relate of Thailands quest for status in the international arena. However, the state did not exist in totality and was constantly challenged by the developing society where womens rights movements were gathering momentum. This led to increasing demands for the amendment of the family law to decrease mens authority in the family according to the universal value of gender equality. The amendments were successful in 1976.