The Thai Regime of Images

This study analyses the empirical character and logical form of modes of Thai power, which the author calls the Thai regime of images. The regime of images is an internally differentiated form of power that exerts systematically different types of policing and control over actions and discourse in the private and public spheres, respectively. Under this regime, actions performed and statements uttered in the public (satharana) domain are more stringently monitored than identical actions and utterances restricted to domains that may be no less visible but which are culturally labelled as private (suan tua). When statements or representations do not conform with idealized forms, and are perceived as disrupting, "the image of smooth calm" (phap-phot haeng khwam-sa-ngop-riap-roi), then both formal (legal) and informal (cultural) modes of power may be mobilized to expel the unwanted representations from the public domain. This regime of power/knowledge has epistemological implications, determining what can and cannot be articulated as public knowledge in Thailand.