Life Coaching in Thailand: Creating a Fantasy of “Wealth” for Entrepreneurs
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Abstract
Life coaching has gained significant popularity among entrepreneurs in Thailand, often promoting the ideology of “wealth” under ideas of a capitalistic economy. This study examines the emergence of life coaching in Thailand’s entrepreneurial society to deconstruct the social ideology of the success and wealth it promotes, with a focus on individualism. Using an anthropological approach and critical discourse analysis, the “Life Map” program (a pseudonym) was selected as a case study for this research. The data was collected from 2018 to 2022 through in-depth interviews and observations. The study proposes that the main discourses generated by life coaches emphasize self-improvement, intelligence, wealth, happiness, and moral values. It argues that these discourses show how life coaches create a fantasy that manages the lives of entrepreneurs by infusing their inner selves with life coach knowledge and enforcing it on an inner level. The study tries to break new ground (theoretically) by arguing that life coaching involves not simply a problem of knowledge but also fantasy.
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