Please Help Us Save and Preserve Thailand’s Rainbow Heritage
Thailand is home to some of Asia’s, and the world’s, oldest and largest gay, lesbian, and transgender (GLBT) communities. Since the 1970s, this country’s diverse GLBT communities have produced a wide range of publications including periodicals and magazines, newsletters, information booklets, as well as advertising material and ephemera related to the many homosexual and kathoey-themed movies, TV programs, stage plays, songs, and popular culture events produced in recent decades. This large volume of Thai and English language materials is a treasure trove of information that documents the history of some of the world’s most important homosexual and transgender cultures.
While only produced in recent decades, these materials are in danger of being destroyed and disappearing completely in the next few years. Because of cultural sensitivities and anti-homosexual bias, established institutions have not considered these materials “worthy” of collection and preservation. Neither the National Library of Thailand nor any university or institutional archive, whether in Thailand or the West, has collected these materials. There is currently no public archive of Thai GLT publications and materials anywhere in the world.
The government of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra followed a conservative moral agenda and instituted a “Social Order Campaign” (jat rabiap sangkhom) in the early 2000s. Monitored by the Thai Ministry of Culture and enforced by the Thai police, this campaign saw gay publications labelled “obscene” (lamok) simply for openly documenting the country’s homosexual cultures. The once-thriving Thai gay magazine industry has now all but disappeared, as publishers evade intensified state censorship by establishing Internet websites. Even back-issues of old gay magazines, once readily available at second-hand bookstores in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and elsewhere, were confiscated during recent police raids and have presumably been destroyed.
Because no Thai or Western library or archive has collected these materials, the only remaining copies are in the hands of private collectors. Over the past year we have discussed the pressing need to establish a Thai GLT archive. We all agree that urgent action is needed to collect and preserve these significant but neglected records of Thailand’s GLT community histories and to ensure they are deposited safely in a publicly accessible archive.
The immediate priority is to collect these materials before they are lost forever.
Collection and Safe Storage
On behalf of Thailand’s gay, lesbian, and transgender communities and the international community of scholars and researchers we invite you to donate well-preserved copies of any relevant materials that you may have obtained over the years.
The publications and materials being sought for the Thai Rainbow Archive include:
• All magazines and newsletters on gay, lesbian, and transgender themes published in Thailand in both Thai and English.
• All fiction and non-fiction books on Thai GLT issues and themes published in Thai, English and other languages, both in Thailand and overseas.
• Audio cassettes, CDs, VHS videos, VCDs, and DVDs of Thai songs, music videos, TV programs, and commercial and independent movies dealing with GLT issues and themes.
• Posters, leaflets, flyers, handouts, and other ephemera relating to Thai GLT events, movies, songs, stage plays, meetings, etc.
Who to Contact to Donate Magazines, Books, etc.
To make a donation of any of the above materials please contact any of the organisations listed on the Thai language pages of this website. If you do not speak Thai please contact Peter Jackson at peter.jackson@anu.edu.au and he will help make local arrangements.
Finding A Permanent Home for Thailand’s Rainbow Archive
Initially the collected materials will be stored securely at the offices of Thai gay community groups. The question of the permanent home for the materials in Thailand will be decided later, after a significant body of materials has been collected. The project partners are investigating possible locations in Thailand and are concerned to ensure that the collected the materials are preserved safely and made available for public access for researchers today and in the future.
The Thai Queer Resources Centre Partner Organisations are:
Anjaree
AsiaPacifiQueer (http://apq.anu.edu.au/)
Australian National University
Bangkok Rainbow (www.bangkokrainbow.org)
MPlus (www.mplusthailand.com)
National Library of Australia
Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand (Fasiroong) (www.fasiroong.org)
Funding
This project is being funded by a donation from the AsiaPacifiQueer Network (http://apq.anu.edu.au/), which organised the highly successful 1st International Conference of Asian Queer Studies in Bangkok in July 2005 (http://bangkok2005.anu.edu.au/). |
