Prisoner of love: sexual violence on Thai television

ABSTRACT

Sexual violence is prevalent as a plot device in Thai primetime television dramas, called lakhon. In the dramas, it is common for the hero to rape the heroine as part of a plot in which the two are fated to be together. The act of rape, and sexual violence more generally, is contextualized by narratives and ethical frameworks that make sexual violence comprehensible and legitimate. Gender violence is grounded in historical notions of sexual authority that deny female sexual agency. Thai lakhon, being the main form of televised domestic entertainment in Thailand, represent a critical element in the regulation of gendered forms of behavior and contribute to a culture in which women are subject to judgment and punishment.

KEYWORDS:

• Thailand
• television
• gender and sexuality
• sexual violence
• popular culture

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to several people who helped me with this piece: Frederick Wherry and Victor Lieberman, who oversaw my original research at the University of Michigan; Matthew Reeder for encouraging me to return to it and provided valuable suggestions; Tamara Loos for inspiring me to critically engage with gender and sexuality in Thailand; and Matthew Hill, without whom none of my work would be possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Thai television dramas are rife with sexual violence in many forms apart from rape, including physical harassment, verbal abuse, forced touching, and kissing. Due to the limited nature of this study, however, I focus primarily on rape. I consider any form of sexual encounter where penetration is implied within the context of coercion to be rape. Although at times in the dramas a woman is shown to “give in” or change her mind, because the sexual encounter was prefaced by intimidation and violence, I still consider those scenes to be acts of rape.

2 Nang rai is probably the more common term to refer to the female antagonist, but tua itcha is also frequently used. While there are male antagonists, there is no male equivalent to the nang rai. The secondary male character, probably the closest comparable character, is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Aside from the phra-ek and nang-ek, the nang rai is the only other necessary character.

3 The prevalence of rape in intimate relationships, including between characters coerced into marriage, further distorts the legal and moral boundaries surrounding the depictions of sexual violence. As the Government of Thailand passed its first marital rape law only in 2007, continued depictions of intimate partner violence represent real barriers to efforts aimed at changing social and cultural perceptions of sexual violence.

4 I accept that ethics and morality have overlapping meanings. I understand ethics to have a greater association with the “good,” while morality is more about right or wrong, see Lambek (2010, 9). Sexual violence in lakhon can be morally ambiguous, based on the situation. But sexual violence is also framed by ethical judgments. It is also depicted as a karmically determined act, which is neither good nor bad. Instead, it is universal or inescapable, as in the “law of karma.” For a study of karma, abortion, and the trend of kaekam (fixing karma) in popular media, see Moodjalin (2013).

5 While this study primarily focuses on rape, other forms of sexual violence and harassment, including verbal threats, touching, kissing, and intercourse, are prominent in most dramas. In general, the level of sexual harassment and violence increases until the act of rape. After that, the phra-ek typically express remorse, and no longer attempt non-consensual interactions. Episodes including rape, therefore, are usually framed as pivotal episodes to propel the narrative forward.

6 Pakamard 2008. This study counted instances of murder, assault, detention, and sexual harassment, including rape, as forms of violence. The method for identifying obscene words was not specified by the author.

7 Raeng Ngao is also a useful case for discussing rape on television because of the highly unusual inclusion of rape committed by a woman. Nok, who works at the same office as the rest of the characters, is a secondary nang rai. Several times, she drugs men and coerces them into sex. An important difference is that the phra-ek is never subject to the indignity of rape. For example, Nok tricks Chenphop into sexual relations, but fails when she attempts the same with Wikit.

8 According to Foucault, “observer and the observed take part in a ceaseless exchange. No gaze is stable … subject and object, spectator and model reverse their roles into infinity.” (1973, 6)

9 Under Thai law it is illegal to defame or insult the primary members of the ruling family. Critics argue the law is used to eliminate any discussion of Thai political institutions. The Computer Crimes Act (officially the Act on Computer Crime B.E. 2550) defines illegal online activities as any actions that include pornographic materials, information aimed at defaming an individual or threatening national security, or promote terrorism. In 2008 this ban was extended to lèse-majesté materials.

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Rebecca Townsend

Rebecca Townsend is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at Cornell University. Her current research is on the social history of media and gender and sexuality in Thailand during the Cold War.