Thai-Chinese Performing Arts in the Cultural Market: A Critical Review of Music and Dance Exchange Frameworks

Abstract

This article presents a critical review of the scholarly literature on Sino-Thai performing arts exchange, examined through an integrated arts-market-management lens. Rather than reporting original empirical data, the review synthesizes 25 English- and Thai-language sources retrieved from the Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI), Scopus, and Web of Science, published between 2010 and 2025, and selected through the systematic search-and-screening process described in the Methodology section. Drawing on arts market management, soft power theory, and intercultural performance theory, the review synthesizes findings across three thematic domains: (1) the historical and institutional foundations of Sino-Thai cultural exchange; (2) the dynamics of music and dance as instruments of bilateral soft power; and (3) the market-management challenges and opportunities shaping the sustainability of these exchanges. The review finds that while institutional mechanisms — including Confucius Institutes, bilateral cultural agreements, and state-sponsored performance tours — have built a robust structural foundation for exchange, the commercialization and professionalization of the performing arts market remain markedly under-theorized, particularly on the Thai side, and the existing literature remains predominantly descriptive rather than critically comparative. The article argues that an arts market management framework — integrating audience development, transnational co-production governance, and digital dissemination strategy — is needed to move Sino-Thai stage arts from a diplomatic gesture toward a sustainable cultural economy. The review closes with a four-point research agenda and practical implications for policymakers, arts managers, and performing arts practitioners.