Chinese-Language Press in Thai Politics during Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram's Government, 1938-1944: Newspapers, Nationalism, Politics, and Communist

Abstract

This article examines the mechanisms used by the government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram to control Chinese-language newspapers in Thailand during the period 1938–1944, through the conceptual framework of closed nationalism and governmental legitimacy. The study finds that the control of Chinese newspapers was not merely a matter of media law enforcement but part of a broader effort to construct political legitimacy by eliminating what the state perceived as threats to national unity — including communism and Chinese nationalism. The government employed the Printing and Publishing Act of 1927, which signified a shift in the basis of legitimacy from traditional authority to legal–rational authority, and sought to promote national achievements. Simultaneously, the state’s Cultural Mandates policy pressured the reduction of Chinese representation in the public sphere. As a result, Chinese newspapers that had once served as transnational political platforms were compelled to transform into commercial enterprises for survival. This reflects the characteristics of an authoritarian state that prioritized national security over press freedom.