<div dir="ltr"><h1 itemprop="headline">Rolling back the crimes of 'Thai-ness'</h1>
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<div class="">The Nation <span>February 27, 2015 1:00 am</span> </div>
<h2 itemprop="description">A state policy of
uniformity has air-brushed minorities out of the national picture; we
need a national language policy to undo that wrong</h2>
New light is being shed on the distinct cultures of Thailand's
Northeast thanks to a project being launched by Khon Kaen University's
Department of Culture and the city's authorities.<br><br>
A memorandum of understanding signed today will mark the start of the
joint project, which aims to preserve and promote Isaan culture. The
emphasis will be on the learning of the Tai Noi script as a gateway to
understanding the region's past and also creating new indigenous
literature. The project will also promote home-grown performing arts
such as mor lam and seek to improve the museums that showcase the
region's cultural and historical treasures.<br><br>
The initiative is an attempt to build on a European Union-funded effort
- the Isaan Culture Maintenance and Revitalisation Programme. Eighteen
public schools will participate in the project, with more expected to
follow when the first phase ends in 12 months' time.<br><br>
The scope and aims of the project are impressive, but success in
achieving them is stymied by the absence of an official national
language policy in Thailand. That lack means the Lao dialects spoken by
millions in Isaan are not officially recognised as regional languages
that should be taught and studied in Northeast schools.<br><br>
Obviously any project that aims to preserve local indigenous culture in
Thailand should be welcome. The Thai state needs to show that it values
such efforts by forging a national language policy that offers official
recognition to the many Isaan Lao dialects - including Black Tai, Lao
Song, Lao Paun and Phu Tai - and their Khmer counterparts.<br><br>
And as a national policy, that recognition should extend to the
distinct ethnic cultures and dialects in the rest of the country.<br><br>
Thailand's ethnic minorities have for too long been forced to accept
the domination of a state-constructed culture of "Thai-ness".<br><br>
Until relatively recently, public schools were required to fine any
student who spoke the "local" language in class. The victims of this
policy still talk of the humiliation they suffered at the hands of the
state's effort to "Thai-ify" them.<br><br>
They recall the awkwardness and indignity of having to speak Thai to
friends or colleagues in public institutions, while anywhere else the
conversation would have been held in their own language. <br><br>
For a national language policy to be a success, it must be underpinned
by real concern for human dignity. Moreover, the Thai state and
mainstream society must learn to accept and appreciate the country's
demographic diversity, rather than seeking to mould minority cultures
into conformity.<br><br>
The failure of such "moulding" is most evident in the Malay-speaking
South, where resistance to the state construct of "Thai-ness" has flared
into decades of armed conflict.<br><br>
In other regions, too, the pressure to conform to government-sanctioned
norms and manners has spawned deep resentment towards the state among
minorities.<br><br>
Sad to say, our authoritarian tendencies have destroyed much of the
local diversity that makes this country so rich and civilised.<br><br>
To protect what remains, we must make the proper distinction between
the state and civilisation, so that the former does not destroy the
latter.<br><br clear="all"><a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Rolling-back-the-crimes-of-Thai-ness-30254959.html">http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Rolling-back-the-crimes-of-Thai-ness-30254959.html</a><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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