THAILAND'S IMAGE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHINESE IN THE POST-COVID 19 ERA: A CASE STUDY OF PEOPLE’S DAILY (2021-2024)
Keywords:
Thailand’s image, Chinese newspapers, Post-COVID-19 Era, Linguistic data dorporAbstract
This study aims to examine the image of Thailand as portrayed in Chinese media through news coverage in People’s Daily (人民日报), a mainstream newspaper of the People’s Republic of China. The data consist of 2,667 news articles related to Thailand published during the period 2021–2024 (B.E. 2564–2567). These articles were compiled into a corpus for quantitative analysis using TF-IDF keyword extraction, complemented by qualitative analysis and contextual interpretation of news content. The findings show that news about Thailand appears across various categories, with economic news accounting for the largest share (57.30%), followed by political news (14.77%), indicating that economic issues constitute the dominant news frame. Keyword and content analyses identify four major frames: 1) economic growth through regional connectivity, 2) tourism, 3) Thailand–China bilateral relations, and 4) Thailand’s role in regional and multilateral cooperation frameworks. Within these frames, Thailand is portrayed as a growing economy and potential agricultural trading partner, a manufacturing base and destination for Chinese investment in Southeast Asia, a major tourist destination for Chinese travelers, and a cooperative partner within regional cooperation structures in which China plays a leading role. Overall, Thailand’s image in People’s Daily is characterized as positive and structurally oriented, reflecting the role of China’s mainstream media in framing news narratives in alignment with national policy directions and the broader context of Thailand–China relations. The coverage emphasizes cooperation, stability, and development rather than internal conflicts or domestic issues.
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