Globalisation, Tourism and Simulacra
This book draws on the thought of Baudrillard to explore the effects of globalisation and tourism in a Thai context. Arguing that tourism does not necessarily erode local culture but that local culture can in fact be recreated through globalisation and tourism, the author employs studies of the Damnoen Saduk and Pattaya floating markets, showing them to be simulations of Thai culture that undergo changes of form, cultural content and activity, through various stages of representation. With a focus on the themes of the circulation of value and signs, the play of differences and orders of simulacra, this volume examines the extent to which Baudrillards theory can apply in a non-western context and in relation to tourism. A study of consumption, tourism and the relations between the global and the local, Globalisation, Tourism and Simulacra will appeal to scholars of sociology and geography with interests in tourism, globalisation and social theory.
Kunphatu Sakwit is Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. She obtained a PhD in Sociology from University of Kent, and a Masters degree in Social and Cultural Theory from University of Bristol. She completed her first degree in Political Science, majoring sociology from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Her research interests are in Baudrillard studies, postmodernism, sociology of tourism, socioloy of globalisation, critical and social theory, and also risk society.
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286 The Class Structure of Capitalist Societies
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287 Studies on the Social Construction of Identity and Authenticity
Edited by J. Patrick Williams and Kaylan C. Schwarz
288 Globalisation, Tourism and Simulacra
A Baudrillardian Study of Tourist Space in Thailand
Kunphatu Sakwit
289 Thinking Through Dilemmas
Schemas, Frames, and Difficult Decisions
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For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Advances-in-Sociology/book-series/SE0511
First published 2021
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2021 Kunphatu Sakwit
The right of Kunphatu Sakwit to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sakwit, Kunphatu, author.
Title: Globalisation, Tourism and Simulacra : a Baudrillardian Study of Tourist Space in Thailand / Kunphatu Sakwit.
Other titles: Baudrillardian Study of Tourist Space in Thailand
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. |
Series: Routledge advances in sociology | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020014139 (print) | LCCN 2020014140 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367863043 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003018278 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: TourismThailandCase studies. | GlobalizationThailandCase studies. | MarketsThailandCase studies. | Baudrillard, Jean, 1929-2007. Simulacres et Simulation.
Classification: LCC G155.T5 S25 2021 (print) | LCC G155.T5 (ebook) | DDC 338.4/791593dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014139
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014140
ISBN: 978-0-367-86304-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-01827-8 (ebk)
If an exotic place only offers simulation of local culture, will you be interested in going there?
To my lovely family
This book is based on research undertaken at the University of Kent under the guidance of Professor Larry Ray and Dr Vince Miller. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to them for their guidance, warm encouragement and patience during the course of my studies. Both highly experienced in the field of my research, they have been extremely supportive: I have learnt much through our discussions and through our work together. Again, I am really grateful to Larry and Vince for giving me the chance to grow up. I am fortunate and honoured to have had Professor Jonas Larsen and Dr Dawn Lyon as my PhD examiners. Their challenging, but constructive and meticulous, comments helped to improve my work immensely in preparation for publication. I would also like to thank my editor at Routledge, Neil Jordan, and an anonymous reader for providing an opportunity to write the book and for giving useful feedback. I am indebted to Jean Baudrillard, who was an inspirational social theorist, for his influential and penetrating works.
My PhD was fully funded by The Royal Thai Government Scholarship, and I would like to show my appreciation to The Office of the Higher Education Commission for their financial support. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the interviews and surveys for their generous support during my fieldwork. My special thanks go to Pamela Bertram, who helped me work on the English language. I also would like to thank Professor Jan Pahl for her warm encouragement; Jan is a very lovely landlady and an inspirational woman. I owe a very important debt of gratitude to my family who have been truly supportive of my study. Their advice, as well as encouragement, has been invaluable to me, and without their support and help, I would not have come this far. I would like to thank my friends and PhD colleagues for their honest suggestions; as we always say, we are getting there.
Prospective tourists may get the impression from the media that the traffic in Bangkok is terrible. The city is large and busy and this is one of the most common images of Bangkok and Thailand. However, the waterways within and outside Bangkok are a unique symbol of the country. As Bodry (2012) states, though Bangkoks usual icons are tuk-tuks and traffic, its waterways are the true symbols of a city that was known as the Venice of the East during much of the nineteenth century. In the capital, they are still used for transportation, providing people with the opportunity to travel by motorboat to many sites around the city. But what was the true importance of the waterways for Thai people? According to Cohen,
