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ABSTRACT
This article examines the gendered bodies and practices of male and female leaders in politically unstable, conflict-ridden Thailand between 2006 and 2019. In a country where the number of military coups has surged to twenty-two attempts (whether successful or unsuccessful) since 1932, the latest military-led coup by Gen. Prayudth Chan-Osha presents another threat to the stability of the country’s democracy. In response to public unease, Gen. Prayudth Chan-Osha projects himself as a source of Thai national strength and stability; to promote an optimistic public outlook, the general puts his martial masculinity and his militaristic physicality on public display. Culturally informed concepts of ‘good/strong’ male corporeality and its ‘bad/weak’ female countertype enable General Prayudth to identify as a national saviour by assuming the mantle of the martial hero. By highlighting his regime’s masculine military strength, he asserts, by contrast, the softness, weakness, and corruptibility of his key political rival, Thailand’s first elected female prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. His public performance of national leadership argues that these frailties render his opponent ‘unfit’ for national leadership.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes on contributor
Dr Sukrittaya Jukping is a junior lecturer in the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies M.A. Program at College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand. Jukping teaches a range of classes on gender and sexuality, including Introduction Gender and Sexuality in Southeast Asia, Masculinity Studies, Gender and Sexuality in Multicultural Society, and Gendered Political Economy of Southeast Asia. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the feminisation of teaching profession and gender education policy in Thailand. Her current research interest is in inquiries of the intricate relationship between gendered/queer body, physical culture/activities, and nation-state. Her latest ethnographic research titled, ‘Her ‘Soldiering on: Female athletes in combat sports negotiating Thailand’s gender politics’, has been featured in Women, Sport, and Exercise in the Asia-Pacific Region: Domination, Resistance, Accommodation edited by Gyozo Molnar et al. (Ch.5, Routledge, 2019).
Notes
1 ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร ผู้นำหญิงแต่งตัวดีที่สุดในโลก?, sanook.com, March 20, 2012, https://www.sanook.com/women/12637/ (accessed August 9, 2019).
2 Siriporn Chotipintu, ‘Meaning Evolution of Physical Appearance in Thai Society’ (Master’s thesis, Chulalongkorn University, 2005), 297.
3 Michel Foucault, Knowledge and Power: Selected Interviews and Other Writing 1972–1977 (Harlow, England: Harvester, 1980), 25.
4 Angus Cameron and others, Body/State (Surrey: Ashgate, 2013), 72–3.
5 Ibid., 18.
6 Benedict Anderson, Imagined communities: Reflections and the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1983; repr., London: Verso, 2006).
7 Phosawat Saengsawang, Chairit Siladech, and Prapat Laxanaphisuth, ‘The History and Development of Muay Thai’, Journal of Sports Science 3 (2015): 148.
8 Pattana Kitiarsa, ‘Lives of Hunting Dogs: Muai Thai and the Politics of Thai Masculinities’, Southeast Asia Research 13, no. 1 (2005): 59.
9 Ibid., 64.
10 Michel Foucault, ‘Body/Power’, ed. C. Gordon (New York: Citadel Press, 1980).
11 Chris Shilling, The Body and Social Theory (London: Sage, 1993); Bryan S. Turner, The Body and Society: Explorations in Social Theory (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984).
12 AFP, ‘Ex-Premier Yingluck Takes Thai Politics to the Garden’, todayonline.com, February 12, 2016, https://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/ex-premier-yingluck-takes-thai-politics-garden (accessed September 28, 2019).
13 Kate Hodal, ‘Thai King Endorses Coup Leader Gen. Prayudth Chan Ocha as Prime Minister’, theguardian.com, August 25, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/25/thai-king-endorses-coup-leader-prayuth-chan-ocha-prime-minister (accessed December 3, 2019).
14 The Associated Press, ‘Thailand Military Leaders Launch Happiness Campaign: Free Concerts, Food, Hair Cuts, Dancers Meant to Pave Way for Post-Coup Reconciliation’, June 8, 2014, https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/thailand-military-leaders-launch-happiness-campaign-1.2668950. (accessed October 3, 2019).
15 Ibid.
16 Kaewta Ketbungkan Khaosod On-line News Report, Prayuth Orders ‘Workout Wednesdays’ for Officials, November 22, 2016, https://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2016/11/22/prayuth-orders-workout-wednesdays-officials/ (accessed 4 October 2019).
A series of Gen. Prayudth Chan-Osha’s public engagements reveal his passion and enthusiasm for Muay Thai and its exercises. See Posttoday, Prayudth shows Mae Mai Muay Thai and suggests Ministry of Education to incorporate Muay Thai as part of the national curriculum นายกฯโชว์ท่าเตะมวยไทยแนะศธ.สอนเสริมให้นร, October 20, 2015, https://www.posttoday.com/politic/news/394943 (accessed December 14, 2019); Thairath, Prayudth shows Muay Thai’s kicks on National Children’s Day นายกฯ โชว์แม่ไม้มวยไทยวันเด็ก, January 14, 2017, https://www.thairath.co.th/content/835818 (accessed December 14, 2019); Matem2, Prayudth could not attend Military Muay Thai fight พลเอกประยุทธ์ตายังเจ็บอดดูมวยไทยทหาร, March 10, 2019, https://matemnews.com/News/55138/ (accessed December 11, 2019); Prayudth proposes Muay Thai as a new entry sport to the IOC, April 17, 2019, https://posttoday.com/sports/548285 (accessed December 15, 2019).
17 Bangkokpost Sports, Srisaket feels Prayut’s Power. Setptember 14, 2017, https://www.bangkokpost.com/sports/1323771/srisaket-feels-prayuts-power (accessed 11 May 2020).
18 Michael Shane Henry, ‘Development of a Muay Thai Enthusiast: An Interpretation of A.N. Whitehead’s Theory of Learning’ (Master’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2013), 18.
19 Saengsawang, Siladech, and Laxanaphisuth, ‘The History and Development of Muay Thai’.
20 Daniela Garofalo, Manly Leaders in Nineteenth-Century British Literature (New York: State University of New York Press, 2008), 2–4.
21 Saengsawang, Siladech, and Laxanaphisuth, ‘The History and Development of Muay Thai’.
22 Burma and Myanmar are used interchangeably by people in and around this Southeast Asian country. Officially, the country’s name is Myanmar. In 1989, the ruling military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar after thousands were killed in the suppression of a popular rising.
23 Thailand’s Department of Physical Education. History of Muay Thai, October 23, 2013, https://164.115.27.97/digital/files/original/d2b4c895c30034b56e72b214d60821a1.pdf (accessed December 2, 2019).
24 Ibid.
25 Kitiarsa, ‘Lives of Hunting Dogs’, 67, 80.
26 Ibid., 60.
27 Ibid., 81.
28 Ibid., 84.
29 R.W. Connell and James W. Messerschmitt, ‘Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept’, Gender and Society 19 (2005): 844.
30 Apisake Monthienvichienchai, ‘Muay Thai: The Changes in the Role and Significance of Muay Thai, 1920–2003’ (Master’s thesis, Chulalongkorn University, 2004), 55.
31 Ibid., 5.
32 Kitiarsa, ‘Lives of Hunting Dogs’.
33 Ibid., 67, 80.
34 Ibid., 77.
35 Ibid., 61.
36 Kaewta Ketbungkan Khaosod On-line News Report, Prayuth Orders ‘Workout Wednesdays’.
Concerned about the health of his government’s officials, Gen.Prayudth Chan Osha ordered his officials and the civil servants to exercise on every Wednesday afternoon from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Starting from 23rd November 2016, all of the government officials and civil servants were expected to take part in this weekly exercise session at the Government House and other government facilities following the directive of Gen.Prayudth. Exercises included light jogging, Muay Thai air punch practicing, and playing football.
37 Posttoday, Prayudth shows Mae Mai Muay Thai and suggests Ministry of Education to incorporate Muay Thai as part of the national curriculum นายกฯโชว์ท่าเตะมวยไทยแนะศธ.สอนเสริมให้นร.
38 Kaewta Ketbungkan Khaosod On-line News Report, Prayuth Orders ‘Workout Wednesdays’.
39 J.A. Mangan, A Sport Loving Society (NewYork: Routledge, 2006), 2.
40 Kitiarsa, ‘Lives of Hunting Dogs’, 60.
41 Ibid., 67, 80.
42 Darunee Tantiwiramanond and Shashi Pandi, ‘The Status and Role of Thai Women in the Pre-Modern Period: A Historical and Cultural Perspective’, Sojourn 2 (1987): 128.
43 Ibid., 131.
44 Chotipintu, ‘Meaning Evolution of Physical Appearance’.
45 Ibid., 297.
46 Charles F. Keyes, ‘Mother or Mistress but Never a Monk: Buddhist Notions of Female Gender in Rural Thailand’, American Anthropologist 11, no. 2 (1984): 224.
47 Terry Fredrickson, ‘Yingluck the Model’, October 29, 2014, https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/easy/440212/yingluck-the-model (accessed December 27, 2019).
48 Chotipintu, ‘Meaning Evolution of Physical Appearance’, 236–7.
49 Fredrickson,‘Yingluck the Model’.
50 Ibid.
51 Kenneth Tan, ‘Former Thai Leaders Yingluck, Thaksin Visit Ancestral Village in Meizhou,Guangdong’, May 5, 2018, https://shanghaiist.com/2014/11/01/yingluckthaksin_go_on_a_family_trip/ (accessed November 3, 2019); Wikipedia, Yingluck Shinawatra, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yingluck_Shinawatra (accessed November 3, 2019).
52 Terence James, ‘Chulavachana, From crying to United Nations recognition’, October 12, 2014, https://thaiintelligentnews.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/yingluck-focus-thailands-lood-saga-from-crying-to-united-nations-recognition (accessed December 2, 2019).
53 William A. Callahan, ‘The Ideology of Miss Thailand in National, Consumerist, and Transnational Space’, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 32 (1998): 30.
54 Ibid., 30.