Thai Nation Construction in Non-Fiction Travel Dimension: A Case Study of TOT Magazine

Abstract

            The goal of this article is to investigate the construction of tourist discourse for the building of the Thai nation from non-fictions in TOT magazine using Michael Foucault's discourse concepts, Ferdinand de Saussure's sign, Stuart Hall's representation, and Roland Barthes' myth. The sample is TOT magazine from 1963–2017. The total was 680 copies. The result found that TOT magazine constructed six sets of discourses: 1. tourism promotion of Thailand; 2. youth and travel promotion; 3. the local area as a tourism hub; 4. foreigners' admiration; 5. values, cost, good products, and Thainess as seen through tourism promotion; and 6. the government's concept of civilization. The discourses discovered produce the myth of tourism by focusing on local tourism with a "local good product" campaign in accordance with the National Economic and Social Development Plan. The TOT magazine used signs to support the government's policy by reproducing the civilization discourse the most. The civilization represents the growth of tourism in the town when compared to the capital city. The provincial symbols were a horse carriage and an elephant. Myth was persuaded to travel with the campaign "Thai Travels in Thailand" as the way of a developed country such as Japan. This was an emphasis for Thais to build the nation through tourism policy, including having representations of "good products" from local areas. TOT magazine emphasized the importance of tourism discourse in the construction of the Thai nation, and it was part of the non-fiction construction of the Thai nation.