Factors and Political Participation of Thai Youths after the Revolution of 1932 to Coup of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)

Abstract

The research article consisted of two objectives, namely 1) to study the factors affecting political participation of Thai youths after the revolution of 1932 to Coup d'état of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) 2) to study the political participation behavior of Thai youths after the revolution of 1932 to Coup d'état of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The study used a qualitative research method by studying through analysis of data from documents, articles, books and related research then conduct a content analysis and present the results by descriptive analysis research.

The results of the research indicated that 1) During the years 1932-1937, Thai youths’ mindset were still dominated by the old political system until in 1938-1944, the nationalism is on the rise under the government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram and began to change in 1945-2007 when the United States have an influenced in Thailand’s education system which created a Thai progressive group. Finally, at present, in 2008-2020, Globalization and International cooperation frameworks play an important role in the political participation of Thai youths. 2) In the years 1932-1937, Thai youths still did not have any political participation. Therefore, the People's Party has increased the awareness of democracy and can be seen more clearly in 1938-1944, the Thai government implemented a nationalist policy which resulted in Thai youths obeyed and carried out what they saw as patriotism by rally against those deems not being Thais or being a foreigner until in 1945-2007, the influenced of the US education policy towards Thailand has created a Thai progressive group that opposes the working of the Thai government by demonstrations and protests against the Thai government which eventually led to severe repression. When Thailand enters the globalization era of 2008-2020, Thai youths have mainly used the Internet for political participation which can help avoided political repression. The researcher sincerely hopes that relevant organizations will implement policies to create Thai citizenship that is appropriate and consistent with today's society. This includes being open to hearing other people's perspectives which has the potential to reduce future conflicts.