Linguistic Hierarchies under Sovereign Order: The Ecological Predicament of the Chinese Language at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok

บทคัดย่อ

This study examines Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok as an empirical site of linguistic landscape research, applying the functional matrix of linguistic landscape and the theory of geosemiotics to systematically analyze the functional embedding, visual presentation, and hierarchical distribution of the Chinese language under sovereign regulation. Based on 284 signage samples, the study identifies a tripartite language hierarchy within the airport: English dominates international communication, Thai maintains its role as a symbol of national sovereignty, and Chinese is largely confined to commercial zones, functioning as a consumption-oriented communicative tool. Chinese signage is visibly subordinate in both font size and spatial positioning, gaining prominence only in promotional displays. Legal frameworks such as Thailand’s Signage Tax institutionalize the visual primacy of Thai, reinforcing its sovereign symbolism. Meanwhile, the strong purchasing power of Chinese tourists drives capital interests to increase the visibility of Chinese in commercial zones, often accompanied by semantic inaccuracies and a lack of regulatory support. The current ecology of Chinese signage faces structural vulnerabilities, including translation errors, service information gaps, and institutional absence, reflecting its economically dependent status. The study recommends establishing a zone-based multilingual signage classification system to balance sovereign regulation with service flexibility. Overall, this research reveals the deep-seated tensions between language policy, market logic, and symbolic governance in multilingual public spaces under globalization, offering insights for managing language visibility in globalized infrastructures.