Nationality discourse of the Thai state: transnational peoples in the Thai-Lao border of Ubon Ratchathani province

Abstract

            By weaving the concepts of power, people, and space, this paper analyzes the ways in which nationality discourse is produced. The Acts of Nationality of 1961, 1966, 1992/1, 1992/2, and 2008, and the Revolutionary Council Announcement of 1972 will be approached by discourse analysis. The language used in the five Acts and the Revolutionary Council Announcement of 1972 will be analyzed to detect how significance and identity are produced and reproduced. By reviewing literature, this article further examines the ways in which the nationality discourse constitutes the lives of transnational peoples in the Thai-Lao border of Ubon Ratchathani province.