Sanae Chamarik

(Ed. Note: The following is an excerpt from the book : The Foundation of Thought Toward the New Alternative for Thai Society. The author is a professor of Thammasart University, By discussing the concepts of 'logaphivat' and 'loganuvat' and argues that the world conquering mindset will lead to nowhere. Translation from Thai to English by Yenchit Sukavasana)

"Globalisation" becomes a crucial word among scholars in Thailand since they could not find an appropriated Thai terms for it, between ‘logaphivat’ and ‘loganuvat’, it is a hot public issue discussion recently. According to Thai Royal Standard dictionary, the term ‘logaphivat’ means -world network, world accessibility, or world conquering- while ‘loganuvat’ means -following the world-. Finally the Royal Institute has agreed to use the term ‘logaphivat’.

The point discussed here is not the above conflict but I would like to discuss on what the real meaning of the terms and its role in Thai social and culture.

Culture in Transition and Its Problem

Whatever Thai word is used for ‘globalisation, I would not pay serious attention to it, because I am not a linguist or an expert, I just would like to point out that the argument should be carried out frankly, and with an open-mind, not in a self-centered way. However, in my opinion both Thai terms may be possible, depending on its appropriated situation. Both words may be unable to separate from each other, like a coin that consists of two sides.

This reminds me of an English tale I once read when I was a student at Pre-graduate School of Thammasart University. The tale was about a fight between a white knight and a black knight, because of self-importance. Both knights were from different directions and met at an institution. A white knight said he could see a golden inscription on the institution at his side while a black knight said he could see a silvery inscription on the institution at his side. They both quarrelled and fought. Finally they gave up fighting because of getting tired. They climbed up to look closely at the institution on both sides and found that each side had a different colour! This tale is instructive.

What I would like to point out next is mass media, journalists, who have now dominated the readers, seem to accept easily what the government has proposed. I notice that they have accepted the term ‘logaphivat’ because the Royal Institute accepted. The newspaper column said "Good-bye...loganuvat" (Thairat, 25 October 1994). It shows that governmentalisation, or the civil ruler system still exists in ‘Thai democracy’. Is this Thai culture? If so now we have to rethink the role of journalists as well as scholars in the social development chaos.

Human behaviour and their belief system have dominated culture. Thus cultural change or cultural transition can happen all the time by two ways - naturally or deliberately. If the culture changes naturally we would not hesitate to accept it but if it is changed deliberately by human behaviour we should be aware and pay serious attention to control it in the right way. We have a lesson in history from the Industrial Revolution.

What I have just described above relates to the terms ‘logaphivat’ and ‘loganuvat’. If ‘logaphivat means ‘conquering the world’ then the culture is changed by human behaviors. Man has changed his culture by invention and creation to serve his life and this means man is trying to conquer the world or to control the world as the event of the Industrial Revolution. ‘Loganuvat’ means ‘following the world’, it can happen naturally by time but it is by produced by 'logaphivat'. These two terms are absolutely interdependent.

The relation of human thought and human behaviours is distinguished within Buddhism :

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a serene mind,
happiness follow, as sure as one’s shadow.

I would like to conclude here that we can use both terms ‘logaphivat’ and ‘loganuvat’ depending on its situation. The most important point is which term can give an effort to human culture and society.

World Conquering Culture

In the age of colonialism, western countries were ‘the conquer’ - which I would like to call the "hunter" status. While most of eastern countries were ‘the colonised’ or the "victim" status. Thailand was one of those "victims" in that age, not politically but culturally. ‘Logaphivat’ and ‘loganuvat’ are not a new creation. They are related to colonial culture. ‘logaphivat’ means conquering the world. Therefore it is in ‘the hunting culture’ or it is of hunter status. ‘Loganuvat’ means following the world. Therefore it is of victim status. We had better pay attention to this point, not just easily accept it without taking it into consideration.

Western civilisation, which later influenced the eastern world, has originated from new science and technology. The ideology of science was combined from various sources, however most of them are being misunderstood :

The belief system: We believe that mankind is supra-natural, and that mankind can control nature. The nature is food resources for mankind or the nature is raw material resources for investors from which they can freely use and produce their products. This is called country development policy or ‘economic growth’ or a ‘free market’.

Referring to Charles Darwin’s theory: It is said ‘only the strongest survive’. It has now become a good reference in country development policy since competition is automatically assumed. Competition plays a key role in social development. The philosophy of competition ‘the strongest always win’ is useful in economic development. We can see that the strongest are always the rich. The weak or the losers are the farmers who have less opportunity.

The misunderstanding that development means controlling the environment or taking advantages of others. Devastation of the environment will happen if the policy of development focuses on economic growth only. We should bear in mind Pope John Paul II’s warning to "Beware of Capitalism".

World Following Culture

Professor Milton Friedman from University of Chicago, the founder of modern capitalism, proposes that capitalism can not grow without human greed, but it is essential to be under control or discipline. This may be true because greed, anger, delusion are all in human soul. They could be forced out for country development and surely for human being. These forces are part of the culture of winning the world or ‘logaphivat'.

If we are not self-important we would see that capitalism gives individual advantages rather than unique advantages, so it can not maintain a sustainable environment.

It leads to the ‘victim’ society or the society of follower or ‘loganuvat. Loganuvat is the culture of following the world or in the other word colony culture. As a Thai, we are very proud of Thainess. In history Thailand was not colonised by the west. I will not discuss it further as there are many works on this issue. I would like to emphasis on what is the cultural transition from imperialism to ‘new economic interrelationship’ or ‘new world order’. Importing has been replaced by exporting. Trading networks expanding among capitalists and middle classes. How the cultural identity can survive? Could a new pattern of colonisation - so-called capitalism - conquer our cultural identity ?

I would like to raise questions about cultural independence and human rights for Thais. Firstly, is it possible to make a discipline to control industrial capitalism which is balanced ? Secondly, Could we now recover cultural identity and how? These are what I propose to be ‘mysterious culture’.

Referring to the first question: How we can make a discipline to control human greed in industrial capitalist society, I would say that I am now very tired of Thai politics, which pay too much attention to economic centralisation and power by pushing a policy of "trading and free market" which in fact is a policy directed by some world-leading industrial countries. This economic policy has been established in Thailand since the Marshall Sarit Thanarat regime during 1957-1958, his country development policy was to increase human resource by sending people to get higher education abroad, to serve industrial development purposes. These policies were all under the martial law. The more industrialised [the country], the more capitalists, and middle classes. It led to a conflict between the capitalists and the government when the capitalists and the businessmen disagreed with martial law and the centralised control of the economic system. Then the regimes like "Bloody May" in it’s last few years or even on 14 October 1973, happened and these are a reflection of the beginning of Thai social and cultural changes. The social leaders from various professions joining with politics to settle their roles in parliament. It is sheds light on the direction of Thai economic development : following the others, but not independent. We all misunderstood.

It is a paradigm. I would like to suggest that it is not wrong if we used the term ‘loganuvat’ which means ‘following’ because we are following the others without hesitation. So I would like to call it ‘the culture of following the world’.

If Thai social structure and political power have to follow the outsiders, the new discipline for controlling industrial development may not occur. It is likely that we have to pay a Thai cultural identity as a tax for following the others the economically.

For the second question I raised : How could we preserve the original Thai village traditions, or in the other word how could we prevent Thai culture from the anti-cultural virus. Modern Thai culture and society have been developed fast, mainly by the elites or social leaders. It is not easy to control or prevent the fast growth of social development. Thai villages are the next development destination. How could we build prevention for them ?

Thai village society and tradition is similar to those in tropical countries that involve multi-tradition and beliefs. Among these differences, ‘the belief of the universe’ is unique in human society. We believe that the human being is part of the universe, and man is part of the nature. This truth becomes human belief. Therefore local tradition invented by the villagers are not nonsense sometimes, they are scientific, as Fritjof Capra, a physician, said "Physics has passed long experiment process and environments like oriental beliefs and intellectuals.

Fritjof’s opinion proves that science can no longer take a key role in social development. No longer conquer the world. What is now playing a key role in social and economic development is self-importance or human greedy. It is a truth.

Thai local peoples have awareness of their rights and community properties. However, the New World Order has now been introduced to the villages to make it the same discipline, the same order so that they may see that the nature of Thai village look obvious in this New Age. I wonder if the Thai villages society will survive.

What is happening in the world, is all human’s creation.

Conclusion

World conquering culture has been happening since the ancient times. World economic chain and capitalism have just occurred, after Industrial Revolution. However there is a differentiation between Colonialism and the "New World Order" after the World War II. In the age of colonialism we can see clearly between the ‘hunter’ and the ‘victim’. The hunter is referred to ‘logaphivat’, the victim referred to ‘loganuvat’. In the New World Order, education has been improved to ‘universal’. The educated scholars become country leaders. These scholars have not only brought Thailand into the New World Order but also other developing or underdeveloped neighbouring countries. The New World Order is a new social philosophy. Its goal is to conquer the world, to win the world, to control the human beings and nature. It seems to spread all over the country. The movement in local communities may represent a future reflection.