cTTtis87587

1. ApichatpongWeerasethakul, P itni tiue,CUIO, Milan, 2009, p 13

2. The Ministry of Cultureorganised the exhibition'Imagine Peace'at rheBangkok Art and CultureCentre betrveen 25 funeand 22 August 2010.According to its curator,Apinan Poshyananda, theexhibition was meant toexpress'the desire tbr peaceand reconciliation', See'Inagine Peace: ThaiExhibit on [the] PoliticalCrisis', http//ww.artdaily.org/index,asp?int-sec=1 1 Ecint_new=3904fJ,accessed 10 August 2010.

3. The letter to MontienBoonma is part of NavinRawanchaikul'sinstallation P lease DotnteYour ldeas to a Silpathc'nrArtst in his Silpathomaward-winning exhibitionheld at Queen Sirikit ArtGallery from 29 July to 10August 2010.

4, I refer to each artist by hisor her first name, followingThai custom.

5. The PAD, the anri-Tlraksinmovement also known asthe 'yellow shin'movement, was founded on8 February 2006. Thefounders were SondhiLimthongkul, Chamlong

Techer Cmlosirior Ltd, Salisbur,v

Third Text, Vol. 25, lssue 4, july, 2011, 419-429

6t20t2011

ll Routledoefi\ tntr*a*un.iq*p

10

20

30

35

4.5

50

Deforming Thai PoliticsAs Read through Thai Contemporary Art

Pandit Chanrochanakit

THE GHOST OF THAKSIN

fA]gbost uill appear under certain condi:tions, uthen it is ttot qaite lightand nat quite darh. (at tbe break of dautn flnd at uailight).t

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Primitiue, 2009

After the May 2010 military crackdown on rhe Red Shirts, the UnitedFront of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the governmenr ofAbhisit Vejjajiva encouraged the country's best-known artists to organisean exhibition. Titled 'Imagine Peace', the exhibition was intended toreconcile the mptures caused by three years of protracted domestic politi-cal conflicts from 2006 to the present. As Navin Rawanchaikul stated inhis letter to the late Montien Boonma:

Actually there is currently a huge show called 'Imagine Peace' at theBangkok Art and Cultural Cenrre.' They claim that the aim is to heal oursociery through art, after the recent political conflic that climaxed in unex-pected violence and bloodshed on the sreets of our country. Although I likea few pieces in that exhibition, including your powerful drawing, it is sad tosee that artists are being used as tools for government propaganda.s

Back in 2006, groups of people formed an anti-Thaksin movement andwore symbolic yellow shirts to represent their support of the king. Manyartists helped to paint the protest stage backdrop, including Vasan Sitthi-ket, an outspoken 'Yellow Shirt' artist on rhe side of the People's Alliancefor Demouacy (PAD), the leading anti-Thaksin faction. Although Vasanhas denied any affiliation as such, he has appeared on rhe PAD sfage,participating in poetry readings on various occasions that collectively reaf-firm his opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra and the Red Shirt movement.4Moreover, Vasan ioined the PAD the very day of its formation.s His affilia-tions are explicitly articulated in a group exhibition titled '2A /20', whereVasan juxtaposes rwo paintings. The first, 1,7-1,9 May 7992, refers to the}lf:ay 1992 movement which saw thousands prorest against the govern-ment of General Suchinda Kraprayoon as a democratic movement.A man holding a national flag is shot by a rifle, and at the top of the

Trird Texr ISSN 0952'8822 print/ISSN 1475-5297 online (Q Third Text (2011)http://ww.tandf .co.ukljournals

DOI: 10.1 080/09528822.201 1..587687

424

Srimuang, SomsakKcaisuk, SornkiatPongpaibul, PipobThongchai and SuriyamiKatasila, Vasan and manyothe. affists loined thePAD, using their art to raisefunds via art auctions,campaign T-shirts etc.

6. Thaksin Shinarvatra servedtwo terms as PrimeMinister of Thailand from2001 to 2006. He wasousted by a military coupon 19 September 2006, SeePasuk Phongpaichit andChris Baker, Thaksin,second edition, SilkwormBooks, Bangkok, 2009 formore details.

work is a sentence which readst '77-19 May 1.992 - Thais dead fordemocracy.' The second painting portrays the May 2010 movement invol-ving the protests staged by Thaksin's 'Red Shirt' supporters as a non-democratic movement. Titled 19 May 2010 (2010), it bears anotherlegend: 'Thais dead for the crook.' The painting shows a man in a redshin about to throw a burning Molotov cocktail. The man's red T-shirtshows the face of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister oustedin a military coup.6 According to Vasan's painting, he advocates theYellow Shirts' opposition to Thaksin, whom he portrays as a man ofevil. His statement in suppon of the exhibition clearly states this:

I do my political art to warn Thai sociery about how ugly Thai politics is,and to show the misery and sufferin_g of the Thai people who are born to berhe prey of political power games.l

Vasan is not the only Thai artist who targets Thaksin; a number of non-PAD artists have also worked on themes with an anti-Thaksin sentiment.For exanrple, Pichaya Khunnawat's Mr. Tricky 12005*2007) shows aman with a square face walking on four legs; the face is a caricature ofThaksin with dollar signs in his eyes.8 The painting is meant to representthe Thaksin government as greedy and corrupt. In August 2005,Porntaweesak Rimsakul held a solo exhibition based on his childhood

60

65

70

80

85

90

100'..*

;il

Porntaweesak Rimsakul, RGB's War,2005, mixed media installation, courtesy of the artist, photo: Steven Pettifor

7. Vasan Simhiket, 20120: 20Years 20 Artists:Ann iuersary Ccl e b ati onFxhibitiof, , 3 August- t 5A,ugst 2A10, Bangkok Artand Culture Centre andAhko Art Gallery,Bangkok, 2010, p 24

8, Elaine W Ng,'Thailand',ArtAsiaPacifc Alnduc2008 13).,2Q08,pp267-268

9. Ark Fongsamut,'Pomtaweesak Rimsakul',P ornraue esa k's E* hi bi t ion7 September-Z9 Octobet2006, 100 Tonson Gallery,Bangkok,2006

10. ln Phongpaichit and Baker,op cir, pp 278-279. Seeanother tmnslation fromWikipedia which reads: 'Inhorse racing they have thestable and the owner of thestable ovsns the horse. Thejockey comes and rides thehorse during the race. butthe jockey does not own thehorse. It's very easy [tocomprehend].'Vikipedia.org, 'PremTinsulanonda', accessed 20August 2010,

I 1, I use the term 'middle class'in the manner of adiscursive concept; a$suggested by James Ockey,there are two outstandingIroups among the middleclass, The first is the groupmade newly rich by theeconomic prosperity of the1980s and 1990s thatOckey calls the 'consumermiddle class'. They enloythe fruitful products ofeconomic development burare scldom sati$fied withpublic policy. The secondgroup enjoys careers thatgrant them a higher statusthan that of the rural poor.See Chapter Seven,'ThaiMiddle Class Elements:I:ading in Democracy?', inJames Ockey, MaAiagDemocra cy : Leadersh ip,Class, Gender, atdP olitica I P alti cipa tion inThailand, Silkworm,Bangkok, 2005, pp 151-177.

12. See discussion on ThaksinShinawatra and his chargesin Phongpaichit and Chriqop cit, and debates on

421

memories of growing up in a province whose activities were centred on amilitary base. In the exhibition, Porntaweesak took a number of soldiers'helmets and repurposed them as radio-controlled cars. The audiencecould then control each helmet by using a remote control, using thehelmets to fight each other and produce colours - red, blue or g.reen -on a wooden board. Ark Fongsamut notes:

The military, in command during the time of a weak political system, hasnow become a servant as political parties have gained in strength. A onepaffy system raises so many doubts about political power that peoplefocus on the commercial benefits, as if money can buy anything. Thecorflict between political benefits and public benefits is thus raised. Pornta-weesak cannot help wanting to examine and raise this question, in which thestate of authoriry and the state of being under a commander are revised.e

Porntaweesak's work recalls a famous phrase uttered by General PremTinsulanonda in his speech at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academyshortly before 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged acoup against Thaksin's government. In it Prem stated:

I am a member of the cavalry and know a thing or two about horses. Inhorseracing, horse owoers hire jockeys to ride their horses. The jockeysdo not own the horses, they iust ride them. A government is like a horse,It surprises soldiers, but the real owners are the country, and the king.Some jockeys ride well, and other don't, Governments are the same.lo

In his work, Porntaweesak echoed Prem's impressive speech, in the way inwhich it allowed the audience to control the soldier's helmets and projectcolours onto the canvas. The freedom to mobilise helmets allowed theaudience to exercise their desire to control the military, a desire thatwas realised during the PAD campaign. The project was highly appreci-ated by its audience, mostly members of the Thai middle class.ll Thecurator, historian and critic Apinan Poshyananda remarked, for instance,that Porntaweesak capttues the feeling of Bangkok residents and the waysin which they support military intervention in Thai politics.

Shortly after Porntaweesak's exhibition, the army staged its coupd'6tat. The junta, the so-called 'Council for Democratic Reform'(CDR), stated that Thaksin had destroyed the checks and balancesdesigned to protect independent organisations in accordance with the1997 constitution.lz The Thaksin governmenr was also charged withcorruption, and allegations that these practices had personally enrichedthe former prime minister himself. As a result, the image that remainedof the Thaksin government was that of a corrupt state which it was ethi-cally iustifiable to remove. When the CDR seized power from Thaksin,the iunta dissolved Parliament and the Senate, and a 'year zero' wasannounced. Bangkok residents celebrated the coup by giving armyofficials garlands and gift baskets, flirting with the tank drivers bywearing 'coyote' (skimpy) costumes and hot-pants, and even takingwedding photos in front of the tanks. It was the first time that the Thaiarmy had received such a warm welcome and public support since theviolent suppression of protests against anofher military government inMay 1.992.

Yet despite such support, it was only the start of what might bedescribed as an illusive freedom. Thai politics after the 2005 coup has

125

115

120

145

150

130

155

422

Thaksin's undemocraticacts and reasons tooverthrown him and hisgovernment in KasianTechapira, 'TopplingThaksin', Nera LeF Rca!ru39, May-June 2006, pp 5-37 and ThongchaiWinichakul, 'TopplingDemocracy',,forzal o/Contentporury Asia,volJ8, no 1, Febrnary 2008,pp 1 1-37.!?inichakul'sargrments supportTamada's anallsis ofthe process ofde-democratisadon andthe rise of pro-monarchistsntiments.

13. Ariun Appadurai,Modemity at Large,University of MinnesotaPress, Minneapolis, 1 996

14. Valter Beniamin, T/:eAr eadcs Ptoj ect, HowardEiland and KevinMcLaughlin, trans,Belknap Press, New York,20Q2,p 917

15. Anek Laothamaus, $oagnagara prachathippatai{Tales of Tuo DenocraticCities: A Path to Economiaand Political Refumationfor D em ocra cy\, Matichonhess, Bangkok, 7995, p 12

16. ThamrongsakPetchlertanan, Kordnghaffi Pa tiu'st -fi tpr a h aftt -kabot nai kcmmourg thaipatchxban: Batwihroh laeekasarn lExcuses forRmlxtion-Coup-Rebellion in Carrent ThaiPolitics: An Aflalysis aftdD o ctm e utsl, Foundationfor the Pmmotion of SocialSciences and HumanitiesText Books Proiect,Bangkok, 2007, pp I 3-,14

been a process of limited democracy with more iudicial interventionknown as 'Tulakarnpiwat', whereby the judiciary has been allowed agreater role in auditing legal processes, as well as in inspecting andrecruiting personnel into organisations entrusted to maintain a systemof checks and balances in legal and political processes. Tulakarnpiwatreveals a tension between popular sovereignfy and an autocraticregime. Porqtaweesak's remote-controlled helmets are not iust toys andobjects of art, but rather a sign of the different aesthetics of contemporaryThai cultures, which reflect back upon one another. As Arjun Appaduraiobserved, the work of imagination operates in the 6elds of both arts andpolitics.l3 Aesthetics and politics are interfwined and it is the deformationof both that will serve as the focus of this article.

RED SIIIRTS v YELLOW SHIRTS: A SIGN AF THE'DEFORJVT,ATrON' AF THAI POLITTCS

Eoetybody's contem7orary and eternal rec11tteflce,14

Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Proiect

Rural voters form the maiority of Thai society and elect the majority ofrepresentatives who are then empowered to form a government. Yet asthe well-known political scientist Anek Laothamatas points out, althoughrural constituents elected the government, it was the urban middle classeswhich overthrew it. He stresses that the key to economic and politicalreform is to empower the middle classes, so that they can elect theirrepresentatives, while at the same time allowing their rural, working-class counterparts the capacity to control, and even remove, the govern-ment, thereby creatin_g a new balance of power between the urban middleclass and rural poor.rr Anek's bold statement reflects a belief on the partof the Thai middle class who consider representatives from the rural pro-vinces to be mostly under-qualified and simply local tycoons or part of alocal mafia. The Thai middle class is constantly dissatisfied with what itperceives as the low calibre of available candidates, To its members, itis this low standard that has led to mismanagement and political corrup-tion. Though the 1997 Constitution was a product of participatory draft-ing and thus itself a democratic instrument, the Thai middle class wouldnot tolerate 'wicked politicians', as was made clear by their support of themilitary coup on 19 September 2006. Chai-Anan Samudhavanija,another Thai political scientist, characterises this cycle as the 'viciouscircle' of Thai politics and the path of Thai democracy since the 1"932revolution has been disrupted by a number of coups. The main reasonsgiven for carrying out the coups have focused on the corrupt managementof government, on conflicts between bureaucratic officials and politicians,and on the Llse maiest| law.16

Thai elites believe that democracy is a product of Western civilisation,so to establish democracy in Thai society is akin to growing an apple treein a tropical forest - it is simply impossible to reproduce'Western modelswithin a Thai cultural framework. Hence, democratic culture does not fitwith Thai society and Thai culture. According to this viewpoint Thaishave to adapt some of the elements of democracy to the particularities

160

165

t70

175

180

185

r90

795

200

205

423

of their socio-cultural environment; only then will it be possible to createa Thai-style democracy. This democracy is characterised as an adaptedversion of Western practices so that Thais still have an excuse not tofollow l0estern standards of democratic government, and the idea ofan elected government is not a necessary pre-condition, if the governmentin power proves itself efficient.

This represents a significant schism befween rural and urban people'sunderstanding of how democracy is meant to be practised. It is believedthat rural people expect their representatives to address questions oflack by ensuring their welfare and overall standard of living through aso-called patronage system. On the other hand, the urban middle classseeks more advanced policies to cope with rapid global changes and chal-lenges. The middle class's distrust of politicians, mainly elected by therural poor, compelled those who drafted the 2007 constitution to limitthe powers of the House of Representatives but enhance those of the ludi-cial branch. It is widely controversial whether such constitutional prac-tices are democratic. I argue that such claims are the point from whichto assess the deformation of Thai democracy.

The alibi of Thai-style democracy can be measured by examining aprocess of de-democratisation. Yoshifumi Tamada, a long-time scholarof Thai politics, states that such a process began with the critiques ofthe extra-stability of government, a phenomenon of the 1,997 consti-tution. The triumph of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Parry after the firstterm in the 2005 election was a threat to the middle class, who felt thatThaksin would monopolise the political realm.17 As a result, Thaksinwas condemned with ldse maiestd charges and manipulating the ruralpoor through his populist policies. He was also charged with corruption,an accusation which prompted the architects of the 2007 constitution todelegate further powers to the iudiciary, allowing them to recruitmembers for political institutions and the so-called 'Tulakarnpiwat'. Asmentioned earlier, the 2006 coup was supported by the PAD and urbanmiddle class who also look for a higher moral standard from politicians.They even proposed a 30:70 proportional representation divided betweenrural and urban representatives. The de-democratisation started whenexceptions were deployed.

I argue that Thai-style democracy is deforming Thai politics, since ithas been employed by the Thai establishment in order to consolidateeven more power within the bureaucratic and political elites. The defor-mation is revealed in the field of democratic practices that reduce partici-pation by the general public, preventing them from engaging withcomplicated challenges while putting the real power of decision-makinginto the hands of a narrow circle of elites - ie the judicial branch andhighly respected persons - those most likely to express their hatred of'bad politicians' while taking little part in the actual process of electoralpolitics.

Over the years, many works of Thai art have been produced on thesubject of the urban/rural dichotomy; for example, Chalud Nimsamer'sRural Sculptare 17982).18 Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook's The Two PlanetSeries (2008), which comprised videos and photographs recording theresponses of Thai rural villagers to canonical W'estern arfiivorks, pushesthe questions of aesthetic displacement further by articulating the displa-cement of democratic practices in which democracy is imagined, localised

210

215

235

17, Ychifumi Tamada,'Demaracy,Democratization and De-democratization', Fa Diawl(cn, vol 6, no 4,2008, pp98-1 39

18. Iola Lenzi, 'BACC Opens toContemporary Art', C Arrs6, November-December2008, pp 98-102

255

424

19. Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook,'In This Circumstancet theSole Object of AttentionShould Be the Treachery ofthe Moon', Ardel Galleryof Modem An, Bangkok,2008

20. Ibid

and comprehended from below. Mdnet's Luncheon on the Grass and 260Thai Villagers (2008) is one example, in which Araya is shown displayingManet's Luncheon on the Grass to villagers, asking them to discuss whatthey see. The subsequent conversation revolved around how the villagersperceived the work and its subjects as odd. '!7hy, for example, did themodel have to be naked? Why was she a 'floozy'? Vhy did the legs of 265the male subiects convey such intimate feelings towards the nakedfemale subjects? Ifhy did the men in the painting have their clothes onwhile the women are naked or half-naked?le

The focus of the work lies in bringing a painting originally intendedfor an indoor gallery space outside, where it could be seen next to 270ordinary villagers. Araya explains that she wanted to introduce Europeanmasterpieces to Thai farmers and listen to their uninhibited reaction; thep,rrpori was to find out what she could learn from Thai farmers.2OHowever, such an experiment might be considered as an allegory to thenotion of democracy and its practice in Thailand. The middle classes 275who condemn rural people {or not understanding international valuesand the practices of democracy will themselves never fully understandwhat democracy is meant to be. In contrast, the rural people feel thatthe middle class have privileges over and above their own situation asmanifested through the ways in which they can gain access to a standard 280of living superior to their own. This disagreement leads to an aestheticiudgement where the politics of aesthetics begins.

Here we have a well-known painting and a question as to whether ornot rural people could understand and appreciate it. This offers parallelsto questions about democratic values and a process of democratisation, 285

which might lead to the understanding and practices of a democraticregime. How can one agree on the rule of law and popular sovereigntybut disrust the decision of the majority? Likewise, what might werightfully expect from the arts? Araya's practice enables us to contem-plate the fact that democracy from the Western world, which should be 290a universal value, has been transformed and translated in Thailand intoa spatial practice - a deformed democracy. It is a democratic regime ofexceptions.

LOSTIAI THE CrrIES

Jim Thompson, the American merchant once known as the'King' of Thaisilk, disappeared in 1967 during a trip to the Cameron Highlands inMalaysia. In order to celebrate Thompson's 100th birthday, the JimThompson House Museum commissioned Navin Rawanchaikul toorganise an art exhibition. Navin made a series of cartoons based onthe question: .What if Jim Thompson came back to Thailand in theyear 2005?' Navin imagined that Jim would certainly have beenamazed by the changes to the ciry in which he once lived. The installationcomprised a life-size Jim Thompson sculpture, with a set of pictures nar-rating the imagined return of Jim Thompson to the streets of Bangkokmore than thirty years after his disappearance. In the piece, he searchesfor his old home, only to find that Bangkok has changed so drasticallyhe cannot find his way. Old Thompson only remembers thet he had ahome near Saen Saeb canal and that he once owned a Thai silk

310

425

Navin Rawanchaikul, detail from lost in tbe City (Long krung),2006, acrylic on canvas, 220 x 1,624 cm, photo courtesyNavin Production Co, Ltd, collection of Narong lntanate

company. Thompson travels to Sanamluang nearby the Grand Palace,without knowing his destination or having any friends; there he meetsNavin who is trying to make ends meet by selling peanuts. Navinbrings Uncle Jim along with him, thus starting the adventure.

Navin entitled the exhibition 'Lost in the City' or 'Long krung' andreproduced a street scene, sefting up a footpath in the exhibition hall,where he then installed a series of murals representing scenes fromdaily life in Bangkok. These remarkable murals employed a contempor-ary-traditional Thai style with both realistic and fictitious stories.Scenes from the streets of Bangkok were rendered on an eight-panel paint-ing which showed not only a growing and disorderly Bangkok, but alsothe failed attempts to cope with the demonstrations by the PAD'Yellow Shirts'. On panel six, the PAD are shown gathering in front ofDemocracy Monument in central Bangkok, whose distinctive toweringwing-like pillars were erected to commemorate the 1932 coup thatresulted in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. Holding

35.5

426

Navin Rawanchaikul, losl in tbe City (Long krung),2006, mixed media, installation view at Jim Thompson Art Center, 395

Bangkok, photo courtesy Navin Production Co, Ltd, collection of Narong lntanate

21. Police General Kovit'Wattana, a former Chief oIthe National Thai Police,who at that time u,as theMinister of the Interior,answering a question posedby the opposition in whichhe used the term'mobmeesen'to imply that thePAD is supported by theelites in Thailand,especially pro-monarchistsand ultra-royalists. It is themajor reason why the PADwas able to seizeGovernment House for 193days (from 25 May to 2December 2008) withoutbeing disbanded. The PADseized Don Muang andSuvanabhumi Airponsfrom 25 November to 2December 2008. In

banners reading gu chart ('rescue the nation') and toftan rabob Thaksin(down with the Thaksin regime), they march on Rajadamnern Avenue,and at nearby Democracy Monument there is a tank with riot police intow. The tank's gun is filled with roses, a reference to both rhe actualmoment of, and the PAD's support for, the 2005 coup. On the far rightof the mural is a group in red shirts fighting with a man wearing ayellow shirt.

Navin's murals underpin the political turmoil of the street protests inwhich the PAD had an advantage over the United Front for Democracyagainst Dictatorship, or the UDD, some of whose members are knownto be Thaksin suppofters. The PAD movement is outspoken about whoits supporters are; one police general referred to the PAD as mobmeesen ('the privileged mob').21 The way in which the UDD has beentreated raises the question of double standards in terms of law enforce-ment and democratic practices in Thailand. There was a call for orderwhen a military-led crackdown on UDD protesters was ordered by rhegovernment's Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation

400

41.5

contrast, the UDD gatheredon Raiadamnern on 12March 2010 and wereviolently crushed by roopson 1 0 April 2010. Thedeath toll reached twenty-six. As a result, the UDDmoved to RaiaprasongRoad on 14 April 2010.Tragically, ApbhisitVejjajiva st up the Cenrefor the Resolution of theEmergency Situation{CRES) on 7 April 2010,under the State ofEmergency Act 2005, todeal with the mass protest.In the end, the military,acting under the ordere ofthe CRES, broke up theUDD protest site atRa japrasong Junction on19 May 2010. UDDprotesters and members ofthe public, including twoforeign joumalists, werekilled, bringing the totalnumber of deaths to ninety-one. The creation of theCRES as a reacdon to theUDD protests, in conrastto the (lack of) reafiion tothe PAD protests, raises theissue of double standards inThai politics.

22. The legal civil war is not anovcr-simplifi cd statcmcnt.It is widely known thatCRES closed down andblocked more rhan 65,000websites accusing them ofposting matters {allingunder ldse majest6legislation. Manycommunity radio stationswere also shut down, Yetthe CRES, the Minister ofJustice and Army leadersannounced that they wouldhunt down anyoneinvolved in acts of ldremalest6 including evenorganising anti-lise maiest6networks. Ironically,freedom of expression andfreedom o{ the mcdia werepromoted after the May1992 massacre and positedin the 1997 constitution aswell as the 2007constitution. Under thestate of emergency suchfreedom is banned,however.

23. Walter Beniamin,'Theseson the Philosophy ofHistory', I llumin ations,

427

(CRES) on 19 May 2010, yet in that same month more than forty UDDprotesters were fatally shot. CRES denies that the Royal Thai Armyused live bullets against demonstrators, claiming instead that a group ofblack shins who appeared from nowhere started kiling people on thestreets in order to frame CRES for murdering civilians.22 As of November 4202010, the state of emergency still existed in parts of Thailand, and recallslTalter Benjamin's view of the state of emergency as declared by a fascistregime.z't The state of exception becomes a condition and rule or, in otherwords,. a historical norm. It is what Giorgio Agamben calls 'a legal civilwaf .24 425

DEFOR}ffNG THAI POLITICS

Before the sound of niltety rounds of gunfire rang out, Kru \r-ong 430

proclaimed.: 'May dicutorship be destroyed, long liue democraqt."

Apichatpong'Weerasethakul, Primitiue, 2009Inhis Primitiue project, Apichatpong Weerasethakul resurrects an unspo- 435ken story of the first violent clashes between the Communist Party ofThailand (CPT) and the Thai government at Nabua Village in Renuna-korn district in the province of Nakhorn Phanom, which took place on7 August 1965. The CPT announced a conventional war against theThai government in order to liberate Thais from government rule 440during the so-called 'bureaucratic polity' period. In this context, thecase of Krong Jundawong was an exemplar. Krong, a local teacher whojoined the Free Thai Movement during the Second'l7orld War, was influ-enced by socialist ideology and had represented Sakolnakorn province onmany occasions. He was later indicted under the Communist Act BE 2495 445(7942) and sentenced to death under Article Seventeen of the Consti-tution BE 25AZ fl959'1. According to local history, his last words were'long live democracy'. His body was riddled with more than ninerybullets.26 Krong's execution represents the height of Thailand's dictator-ial rule. Along with many other young intellectuals and local politicians, 450he was a victim of this dictatorship. Many fled to foin the CPT in thejungle. The story of Nabua Village and Krong are intertwined in Apichat-pong's frlms Phantoms of Nabua (2009), and later Uncle Boonmee-WhoCan Recall His Past Liues (2010). The latter, which focuses on reincarna-tion and the Buddhist concepts of life, was awarded a Palme d'Or at the 4552010 Cannes Film Festival.

Despite their international success, Apichatpong's films have been fre-quently subjected to bans and censorship, especially as the 1930 Film Actstill controls freedom of expression in Thailand. Syndromes and a Century(Saeng Satau.,atl was banned from theatres in Thailand for containing 460scenes in which a Buddhist monk plays a guitar, a doctor drinks alcoholwhile working in a hospital, and a doctor has an erection while kissinghis girlfriend. These scenes were alleged to be inappropriate and disre-spectful as they portrayed both the Buddhist clergy and the medical pro-fession in a negative light. The targeting of Syndromes and a Century 465antagonised young film-makers and the art community at large. Apichat-pong set up an online petition in mid-July 2007 and gained more than

428

Schocken Books,New York, 196&, p 257

24. Giorgio Agambeo, State ofExcep ti on, Kevin Attell,trans, University ofChica go Pres, Clhicago,200.5, p 2

25. Veerarthakul, Pimitiue,op cit, P 12

26. hap://ww.komchadluek.net, accessed 15 August2005

27. Brian Mertens,'Apichatpong Bids toUnshackle Thai Cinema',ArtAsiaPacific 55,September/October 2007,p93

28. ApichatpongWcrasthakul.'Influencc:Today and Tomorrow',ArtAsiaPacific Almanac2008, no 3, 2008, p 269

29. Nick Nostitz, Red asYellou Vol 1: Thailand'sCrisr of ldeztrry, WhiteLotus, Bangkok,2009, p vi

30. Head was presented toCTV as a gift from theIndian Embaxy tocommemorate sixty-twoyears of the Indian-Thairelationship with thesuppon of the Ministry ofCulture, the Bureau of theCrown Propeny, the lndia-Thailand Chamber ofCommerce, and the CenralPattana Group.

31. Susan Buck-Morss, T&eDialectix of Seeing: WaltetBmiamin and tbe ArcadesProlact, rVIT Press,Cambridge,Massachusetts, 1989, p 8l

32. The proiect'Shopping toRescue the [Thai] Nation'was held right after theMay 2010 massacre. TheAbhisit Government andBMA worked closely tomake sure that shopowners could get space andmake a good return afterthe UDD had beendispersed.

5000 supporters, avowing that it was 'a matter of basic human rights andthe dignity of human beings under a democratic society""

Apichatpong's interest in primitivism and ghosts can be seen as sym-bolising the deformation of democracy. As he points out' the Power ofghosts is unknown and invisible:

Ghosts stalked Thailand after the Tsunami struck in December 2004...Ghosts - the unknown, invisible powers in society - are utilised as adevice to contol and set moral standards. This ultimate, hidden institutionevokes fear and, at the same time, provides cornfort.2s

Democratic organisations such as the UDD and PAD wield a power thatis similarly unknown, although it tends to provoke anxiety more oftenthan it provides comfort. On the one hand, the PAD enioys a certainadvantage in that charges of terrorism and seizing the airport havesince been disputed. Moreover, PAD supporters continue to watch theirtelevision station, consume their products and connne themselves to aclosed circle. One photographer noted that the PAD movement is moreof a cult than a demonstration.2e

At the height of the UDD protests, between 14 April and 19 May2010, more than 10,000 UDD supporters gathered in front of Raipra-song's shopping arcades and centres. On 19 May, the CRES orderedthe military to storm the UDD protest camp from their position acrossthe other side of the street. The death toll went up steadily, eventhough the killing zone was located near Central Vorld (the buildingwas formerly called the .World Trade Center', but when it was sold toCentral Pattna Public Company Limited, its name was changed toCentral \forld), a luxurious shopping arcade.

Indian artist Ravinder Reddy's Headbore witness to the shooting ofrhe UDD protesters, given its location immediately outside the Zendepartment store adjacent to Central'World.ru A rumour spread after-wards that the head was a sign of redemption from sickness, bad luckand black magic. According to Thai custom, when a person gets sickand believes that the sickness is caused by an evil spirit, he or shemakes a small doll and takes apart its head as a gesture of sacrifice.Installed near the Phra Trimurati (God of Love) shrine, Head wasbelieved to be a bad omen for UDD protesters who camped at Rajapra-song junction, which is also an area where the famous Bhrama, Narai,Laksmi, Indra and Ganesha shrines are located. Such superstition is wide-spread among urban middle classes, whose business and living conditionsdepend on economic and political stability. The haunted Head and thedeath of UDD protesters contaminated these Bangkok shopping sites,yet their deaths as well as those of international iournalists have beenintentionally dismissed in the wake of the middle classes' call to returnto the good old days of Siam Square's shopping centre and CentralVorld. Their call re0ects Benjamin's notion of the phantasmagoriaattached to the fetishism of commodities,3l in which the Thai middleclass interests itself, as Susan Buck-Morss highlights. After the protestwas over, they came to Siam Square, started cleaning the street signs,footpaths and bus stops, and resumed their shopping. The Abhisitgovernment and Bangkok Metropolitan Adminisration (BMA) allowedshop owners and shopping malls to use the streets of Bangkok as avenue for the campaigi-Sfr"p Cbuay Clal ('shopping for the Nation').32

475

470

480

485

495

490

500

510

.515

429

In his analysis of Francis Bacon's work, Gilles Deleuze explains thatthe sensation felt lies in what is painted, and that sensation is themaster of deformation. The sensation is thus beyond figurative represen-tation; it goes directly to our instincts.33 Deformation starts from the verymoment that we realise the sublect exists, a quality that in this contextmay be regarded as 'the ghostly deforming of the UDD', which revealsthe fact that rural subjects are no longer confined to the middle-classimagination. As Kham Phaka, a writer and activist, states: 'Thailand isno longer the same; Thai people have changed, only the elites can nolonger capture these changes and deceive themselves.'3o Her articlereminds me of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's words, 'things have to changeso that they can stay the same'.'t' To paraphrase di Lampedusa, theUDD had to be dispersed so that the Thai elites and middle class couldstay the same. Nevertheless, the UDD and affiliated democratic move-ments haunt the Abhisit government, persistent in their calls for a trulydemocratic regime.

DEMOCRACYDEFORMED

I have explored the terrain of contemporary Thai art and politics andexplained that the violent intervention of the Thai army is often sup-ported by the middle classes, who have implemented various forms of cul-tural governance within the arts. It should be noted that the Thaigovernment's cultural governance prolect is still under way; it employsart as propaganda even as it attempts to de-politicise art. Exemplary inthis regard is 'Imagine Peace', the exhibition organised by the Ministryof Culture with which I began this anicle. The project sought to bringhappiness and reconciliation back to Thailand and on the surface itmight have succeeded: participating artists have refrained from criticisingthe government and itsuse of violence against UDD protestetr.3t Y.t, uscan be inferred from Apichatpong Weerasethakul's statement in2007 inwhich he declared the presence of 'cultural cops' among us, and in NavinRawanchaikul's letter to Montien Boonma, it is possible to see that Thaistate ideology is heavily contingent on the assumption and exercise ofcontrol. It is the propagation of a new form of Thai-style democracy,one that might be described as a democracy deformed.

530

525

535

550

5S5

560

565

33. Gilles Deleuze, FroncrbBacon: The Logic ofSersalioz, Daniel \7 Smith,trans, University ofMinnesom Press,Minneapolis, 2002, pp 31-38

34. Kham Phaka,Ntb tae neepai mai meun derm lPromNow On [Thai People]W// Nor Be the SaueJ,Matichon Sudsapda(Matichon l?eekly), 24-30April 2009

35. Sven Lutticken, 'On GeraldRaunig: Art andRevolution', Art Forum,September 2007, p 83

36. See http://ww,matichon,co.th/news-detail.php?newsid=1277631908&grpid=&catid=0, accsed l8October 2010.

540

545

I dedicate this article to those who fell during the'legal civil war'in Thailand in Apriland May 2010. I would like to thank the editors Joan Kee and Patrick Flores for theirceaseless efforts in helping me with my difficulties during the political turmoil in Thai-land, and also Araya Rasdjarrearnsook, Gridthiya Gaweewong, ITilliam WarrenLibrary, Thanom Chapakdee, Worathep Akrabutr, and the Kyo Reading Room.Special thanks are also due to Amporn Jiranikorn for her review of my paper andher useful comments, and to Navin Rawanchaikul for his prompt support.

570