Chaiyaphruek: A mirror of a “happiness” perspective between the Thai state and people, 1958 -1963
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Abstract
Background and objective (s): Among the emotions and sentiments of interest within Thai historiography, “happiness” stands out because of close relationship with Thai society, especially in the early 1960s. Despite recent disciplinary focus, this research significantly contributed to expanding the frontiers of Thai history through the analysis of a Thai magazine (Chaiyaphruek) by spotlighting the role of individuals as historical agents. The research for this article aimed to analyze the emergence of people in Thai society, beginning in the early 1960s. This phenomenon is linked to the subsequent economic expansion, which precipitated a paradigm shift in the connotation of happiness.
Study method: This article is a historical academic paper that utilizes Chaiyaphruek magazine from Vol. 5 No. 1 January 1958 to Vol. 10 No. 24 December 1963. All the data are represented and analyzed in descriptive research.
Main result: The context of Thai society during the Cold War significantly influenced Thai people's understanding and perception of happiness. A number of changes occurred, including the end of the threat from World War II, the rise of anti-communist sentiment,rapid economic expansion and the spread of education to local communities. All these factors contributed to people becoming laborers supporting national development. Because of other conditions, such as a lack of social capital, status by birth or limited economic means, people were compelled to define happiness in a tangible form. This often meant evaluating happiness through monetary value because money could guarantee livelihoods and raise social status. This affected Thai people’s life patterns and behaviors, shifting in line with this new definition. According to the results of this research, people tended to put emphasis on the value of work, which was one of the few ways to earn a monetary income.
Relevance to Thai Studies: This article tries to fill a gap in Thai historiography on the Cold War in two levels; concentrating on emotion and feeling through a case of happiness and second analyzing people’s experience and their historical evidence that appeared in a magazine.
Conclusion: The Thai social context and the populace's experiences in the 1960s resulted in a perspective and meaning of happiness significantly different from other periods. Because this group lacked the economic advantages and "good backgrounds" of the middle class, the people unsurprisingly tended to define happiness based on the cost of living and their family's social status.
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