Curtained Motel: Representations of Other Spaces in Thai Sex-gender Discourses

Abstract

This research adopts Michel Foucault's “Other Spaces” theory as a leading conceptual framework to analyze the relationship between physicality and the social dimension of “curtained motels”. The research draws upon historical documents and related articles and the survey of “curtained Motels” in Muang district, Chiang Mai, including the interview with the owners. A total of six curtained motels were investigated and visualized through drawings as they represent multi-layered relationships between urban spaces, communities, and architectural scales. In Foucault's term, the research finding shows that “curtained motels” could be understood as “Other Space”. The curtained motel is an architectural representation of a specific building type regulated by law to become a motel where private space is invisible. The use of curtains to cover up hotel parking spaces is a crucial method of negotiating the law. Seen through the “Other Spaces” framework, “curtained motels” can be described as representing other sex-gender practices, excluded by the mainstream of hetero-normality, once peoples get in and the curtain is closed down. They could become a “haven” for those who wish to step away from the main sex-gender discourses. The motels offer the otherness to the architectural space, manifested through the curtain, the car, and the driveway. This research finding could expand the knowledge of architectural history and theory concerning curtained motels. Ultimately, it is a record of what happened on the areas of “curtained motels” that are rapidly changing and will eventually disappear in the future.