Let the fledglings fly: Children and childhood from the early Bangkok period to the Chakri Reformation

Abstract

During the second half of the 20^th century, the Thai state propagated the intimate relationship between parents and children since the prosperity of children and family was perceived as equal to the prosperity of the nation. Step by step Thai children acquired more emotional and educational values in lieu of economic importance. Meanwhile dekwairoon (adolescence) became known as a critical stage in need of somewhat special attention from parents. The paper argues that these were recent phenomenon of the past century. The study of people’s understandings of children and childhood and the roles of children in Thai social groups during the early Bangkok period to the Chakri Reformation suggests a different picture, which the paper calls “Let the Fledglings Fly”. On the one hand, the more children grew up, the more they were expected to learn how to be integrated into household production, especially girls. On the other hand, as they grew up, children were regarded to become more mature. Rather than “adolescence”, the early years of Thai children’s lives was regarded as the most dangerous age. Drawing on insights from interdisciplinary approaches, the paper traces patterns of understandings and social relations of children by investigating  3 historical models, including language, rituals and religious traditions, and modes of production of Thai society. It contends that the history of children and childhood could be grasped through a biocultural approach: a dialectical relationship between natural/biological and cultural world.