The Image of Cartoons in Foreign Cartoonists’ Attitude Towards Public Policy in Thailand from 2001 to 2020

Abstract

In this dissertation, the researcher examines 1) the issue of the interest in Thai political situations as they appeared in the political cartoons drawn by foreign cartoonists; analyzes, 2) the use of symbols that appeared in the political cartoons reflecting Thailand; and analyzes and 3) the viewpoints and attitudes of the cartoonists in the political cartoons reflecting Thailand. This research used qualitative research methods and conducted research with literature review by the selection of online resources and trustworthy writers.

The researcher categorized the cartoons with the concept of Hill’s public policy divided into five aspects: politics; foreign affairs; economy-investment; society; and the environment, education and technology. The political periods were divided as follows: (1) the period of the dictatorship in the parliament (2001-2006); (2) the period of having various methods for the appointment of a prime minister (2007-2009); (3) the period of the formation of a coalition government with the first female prime minister (2010-2014); and (4) the period of the military government (2014-2020). The researcher studied and endeavored to grasp the public policies in each period as mentioned by foreign cartoonists.

The researcher also studied the interpretation of semiology based on the theory of Charles Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure in order to interpret these pictures conveying the messages in complex contexts. Foreign cartoonists used a variety of semiological resources by presenting cartoon humor in twenty-five forms: political parody, sarcasm, animal comparison, etc. in order to analyze the symbolic structure of the cartoons. The layers of the meanings were disclosed in criticism by using a variety of humor blended in paintings. This could reflect the attitudes of foreign cartoonists towards Thai public policies. This also could show how these cartoons could be the medium for communication. The concepts of political communication were collected to analyze the objectives in the presentation of the cartoons of these cartoonists. General political information was informed to members of the general public including the gaining of popularity, persuasion for political support, and the building of political images.

Lastly, the researcher summarized the research as academic findings using the theory of SMCR (sender-message-channel-receiver) to explain the process of the coding and the decoding of the messages as they appeared in cartoons through the interpretation based on the theory of semiology. This shows that this research focused on a variety of the relationships between arts, divisions of the political periods and the public policies through the interpretation of the pictures and messages portrayed by foreign cartoonists. These reflected insightful attitudes of how Thailand is seen from outside perspectives.