The Urban Culture of Chinese Society in Bangkok: Cinemas, Broadcast and Literature, 1950S-1970S

Abstract

The thesis has addressed urban culture in Chinese society in Bangkok in the postwar era, with particular focus on cinemas, broadcast and literature. These forms of cultural expression appear in the social sphere?in the streets, on the air and in texts, which constitute important parts of the urban culture in the Chinese society in Bangkok. Under the pressure of the Cold War as well as American influences in Thailand when connections to the PRC was discouraged, the Chinese cultural expression in Chinese society in Bangkok was transformed to absorb cultures from a wider Chinese-speaking world than just the Chinese mainland. In other words, the absence of the PRC was partially substituted for by other Chinese communities, mostly from Hong Kong, whose materials helped to fulfill a need of the Chinese in Thailand left behind by the Cold War.