open access
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open access
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ISSN : 2092-738X
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The paper addresses Erik Cohen’s pioneering work on tourism in Thailand, specifically his publications on the relations between Thai women and foreign (farang) men in tourist-oriented encounters. Of sociological-anthropological interest is his conceptualization of these relations as “open-ended prostitution as a skilful game of luck” based on his study of a Bangkok soi (lane) in 1981-1984, and his exploration of Thai culture in terms of ambiguity and contradiction. On the basis of recent ethnographic research in the northern Thai tourist hub of Chiang Mai and wide-ranging observations on tourism development in Thailand, we examine continuity and change in these male-female engagements since Cohen’s research, especially in the context of the increasing availability of such electronic agencies as social media, messaging, video chat, and internet dating. Whereas Cohen’s concept of ambiguity and illusion has tended to disappear from physical spaces, it seems to have resurfaced in virtual space. The complexities of host-guest relations, and particularly the interactions both within the variegated category of “guests” themselves and then between their “hostesses” are explored in terms of sites of tourism-oriented encounters in both physical and virtual space so as to deconstruct these oppositional categories which have been formative in studies of tourism.
The Chinese Belt Road initiatives in the Southeast Asian countries marked a new chapter in the development of China political influence on this region. This article looks at the initiative from the cultural dimension and aims to place its narrative as the entry point to understand the use of identity politics in Asian countries that target the Chinese diaspora. This topic relates to the primordial sentiments of Southeast Asian nations amid massive Chinese investment in the region. The issue of Chinese investments under the Belt Road Initiative corridor has a relationship with the formation of anti-Chinese discourse and anti-communist in some Southeast Asian countries. We took the cases of Indonesian and Malaysian elections to observe the use of identity politics and anti-Chinese political discourse in Southeast Asia. In both cases, a common issue emerged, that of the strengthening both Islamic and indigenous sensibilities. The establishment of ASEAN during the Cold War may be seen then as an anti-thesis to emerging Chinese power. However, anti-Chinese and anti-communism sentiments were not enough to unite the forces of the nations of Southeast Asia. We have concluded that brotherhood, mutual prosperity, and anti-neo-colonialism are yet to be fostered completely to make a distinct ASEAN identity.
Investigating the clash among different forms of international relations has been a frequent issue in modern research and attracts interest in the fields of history and politics. In the nineteenth-century, Asia witnessed a fierce struggle between traditional relations in Asia that existed during the feudal period, that of "The Heavenly Dynasty, China and its vassal states"; and a the new form of relations introduced by the West, that of relations between "colonial powers and colonized countries." As a result, the formation of "colonial societies" in Asia with very specific features was established. However, as stated by Vu (2015), for many reasons, which include the lack of material resources, the politically sensitive nature of the object, and the focus on gains and losses in previous studies, there were little studies on the process of demarcating the Tonkinese border between Franco and Chinese in Vietnam, especially from a globalization perspective. This study thus aims at examining the issue of the demarcation of the Tonkinese Border between Franco and Chinese (1885-1895), in view of globalization, as a case study for the transition process of the modern history of Vietnamese society.
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the development timeline of video gaming in Vietnam. This paper would examine how Southeast Asia has become a key component in constructing the façade of the global gaming industry, focusing on Vietnam. As a communist country, Vietnam showed a distinctive pattern of video gaming reception. Video gaming has become a popular amusement among Vietnamese youth and has also helped Vietnam integrate into the modern world after the Vietnam War.
It has been widely argued that Area Studies is in a critical condition especially in Australia, Europe and the US. However, in the Southeast Asian region, most especially Indonesia, we are witnessing the rise of Area Studies programs with the establishment of several such programs both in research institutions and universities. In this paper, I will discuss a few examples of Area Studies research on the emerging diasporic connections in Southeast Asia and reflect on the constitution of ethnic networks as “sites” where transnational identities are forged beyond state boundaries. Indeed, transnational movements of people have occurred and continue to happen due to particular events like wars and political turmoil, as well as for economic reasons. Today, we find many diasporic groups, including minorities, in the border areas of Southeast Asian countries and historically, minorities have been known for their movements in mainland Southeast Asia. If previously, the diasporic connections, especially with the homeland, had been very limited or even non-existent, today such connections have emerged across national boundaries. On top of this, economic and social networkings are equally on the rise both within and at transnational levels. It is, therefore, important to discuss the identity of diasporic groups and transnational networkings in the cases of two border areas in Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia accounts for nearly a tenth of total worldwide cross-border movements of migrant workers. Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Philippines make up the sending countries while Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand are the major destinations. Migrant worker movements are predominantly in production process and low- to medium- skilled sectors. It is not unusual for irregular or undocumented movements to take place. In not a few instances, migrants work under harsh and exploitative conditions. In recent years, however, ASEAN has taken steps to manage labor migration at the regional level. The paper argues that ASEAN has not managed these cross-border labor flows as well as it should particularly in terms of protecting and promoting the human rights of migrants. It will be difficult to establish the genuine building blocks for a regional human rights mechanism unless there is a diffusion of alternative universal norms and standards to what ASEAN already embodies. As long as states resist any attempt to weaken or question or deligitimize their capacity to determine who gets to enter, stay, and leave their jurisdictions, it will be difficult to establish an effective migrant rights framework for the region.