Political Short Stories from Phan Waen Fa Award during 2016-2017

Civic Duty and Duties of Political Short Stories

Abstract

The political short story competition named Phan Waen Fa Award during 2016-2017 was continued after the cessation in 2014 and the conversion to be the competition of panegyric poetry in 2015 in order to celebrate His Majesty King Prajadhipok's 120 Anniversary. Both the cessation and the conversion were directly related to the political context of Thailand. The country has been ruled by the National Council for Peace and Order since 2014 so that the competition could be considered as a consequence of military government. The study reveals that the political short stories belonging to Phan Waen Fa Award during 2016-2017 aimed to present the concept of civic duty, which was the main concept that was mainly supported by the National Council for Peace and Order, especially about people's rights and respon sibilities. However, the main purposes of some stories did not conform to the government's ideology criticizing their power and administration. The criticism of their use of power suggests that the award committees' consideration during the two years seemed to be widely opened, allowing criticism against the government to be possible. Finally, it can be said that the Phan Waen Fa Award has been turned to be an institute supporting the movement of Thai political literature. It also plays a part expressing and screening political ideologies from the government to the people, representing the people's voices to the government.