The 5 D’s of Thai Democracy: The “Democracy” in Thailand’s Constitution Monuments and Democracy Monument Replicas
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Abstract
This article discusses Thai democracy through a different lens by proposing a summary of its development through the 5 D’s (i.e., diluted, desacralized, disregarded, disappeared, and defended) and using the context of the Constitution Monuments and Democracy Monument replicas in Thailand. By looking at the historical accounts and narratives about these monuments, this work also reveals that the “democracy” conveyed in these structures follows the Thai democracy discourse (i.e., the traditional and Western schools of Thai democracy). The symbols and meanings of these spatial structures mirror the development of Thai democracy from 1932 to the context of the 2020 student protests and how the spatial agencies construct their own meanings of the monuments through time. Amidst the popularity of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok as a symbol of Thai democracy, this paper contributes to the democracy discourse usually centered in Bangkok's context. By focusing on the other monuments outside Bangkok, this qualitative historical study promotes historical awareness beyond Bangkok and highlights the role of public monuments in preserving Thai history and defending Thai democracy.
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References
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