| This dissertation examines how cultural memories about Cold War state violence bears on the contest over Thai identity. I argued that in the selective remembering of the traumatic Cold War, a contest is waged over what it means to be Thai, in which from 1973-2003, a "royalist-traditional" marginalized a leftist democratic subject. While this royalist subject remains a powerful idea contributing to past state violence and current regime changes, the leftist democratic-subject voices dissent. Thailand's Cold War traumatic pasts are articulated through two critical events, the October 14, 1973 uprising and the October 6, 1976 massacre. These struggles materialize through cultural forms like films, the visual arts, and commemorative activities. How the October 14 uprising and the October 6 massacre are remembered and forgotten by these cultural forms are bound by the Thai modern subject; a subject that shifts from one embroiled in Cold War positioning in the 1970s toward a subject anxious with notions of populist democracy and global capital in 2003. This dissertation examines the narratives of nine commercial and independent films from 1974-2003, the artistic representation and production practices of eight artists from 1973-2003, and the archival material documenting commemorations. This project is also based on interviews and ethnographic work on the Bangkok commemorative activities in 2001 and 2003. |
