Air, Words, and Power: A Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis of PM2.5 in Thai English-Language News Media
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Abstract
This research article aims to investigate how PM2.5 air pollution is discursively constructed in Thai English-language news media through a corpus-based critical discourse analysis. Grounded in Fairclough’s
three-dimensional framework, the study analyzed online news articles from Bangkok Post, Thai PBS World, and The Nation Thailand. The results revealed that the textual dimension featured seven semantic categories that emerged in keyword analysis, indicating themes of 1) environmental impact and
pollution terminology, 2) geographical and spatial references, 3) scientific measurement and quantification, 4) governmental, administrative, and
reporting entities, 5) social, economic, and environmental response,
6) technological and scientific infrastructure; and 7) agricultural activity and land use. Collocation and modality further revealed discursive patterns that emphasized technocratic control, government responsibility, and individual obligation. The discourse practice dimension indicated production level to show a strong dependence on government-affiliated actors and scientific agencies as primary sources, distributional level that follows a streamlined format suited for online consumption, and consumption level to inform both domestic audiences and international stakeholders monitoring Thai governance. At the sociocultural dimension, four dominant ideological
tendencies were identified: 1) a technocracy, 2) a state-centered authority and political legitimacy, 3) a normalization of environmental risk, and
4) a regional attribution and environmental nationalism. This study
contributes critically to environmental discourse research by revealing how linguistic patterns and institutional sourcing naturalize unequal power
relations between the state, science, and the public in Thailand’s PM2.5 discourse.
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