RAK CHIANG KHONG AND THE STRUGGLE FOR WAR OF POSITION IN THE MEKONG RIVER CONSERVATION MOVEMENT

Abstract

This article is a research article aimed at studying the tactics and contestation of intellectual space within the Mekong River conservation movement of the Rak Chiang Khong group in 1995 - 2024 A.D. This research is a qualitative study, collecting data from documents, non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews with 15 members of the Rak Chiang Khong Group and related stakeholders, using data triangulation for validation. The study found that the movement of the Rak Chiang Khong group over the past three decades was not merely an opposition to physical development projects but a deeply rooted ideological struggle to systematically challenge and dismantle the hegemony of the state and capital. The Rak Chiang Khong group's tactics for winning the war of position can be categorized into 5 key points: 1) Producing knowledge from the grassroots level to policy negotiation; 2) Building networks and alliances in the movement to conserve the Mekong River; 3) Using media as a space for communication and negotiation for Mekong River conservation; 4) Symbolic movements and peaceful confrontation; and 5) Maintaining the independence and legitimacy of the Rak Chiang Khong group. The Rak Chiang Khong group has succeeded in seizing the intellectual space because they were able to create a "New Common Sense" that challenges the hegemony of the state and capital. by proposing a new set of meanings about the Mekong River, viewing it not merely as an "economic resource" but as a "living space". This is especially evident in their linking of local knowledge with policy negotiation through cultural tools, media, and networks. By deeply transforming the battlefield from the "physical space" to the "intellectual space," the Rak Chiang Khong group has achieved this transformation based on intellectual, cultural, and social capital from the local level to the regional.