Role of the Queen and the court ladies in Maintaining and Developing the Modern Thai Monarchy

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K20758
• Project/Area Number (Other): 17H06773 (2017-2018)
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund (2019); Single-year Grants (2017-2018)
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: SAKURADA CHIE 京都大学, アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科, 特任研究員 (90808304)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-08-25 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: タイ / 君主制 / 東南アジア / 王妃 / イメージ戦略 / 女官 / ネットワーク

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study identified two main roles played by the queen and her court ladies in establishing the authority of the previous king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej.(1) For strategy related to depiction by the media, the queen has been the focus in media after royal visits to foreign countries carried out since the 1960s. In addition, the queen's independent provincial visits increased from the 1980s, and on provincial visits with the King, the queen also carried out activities on her own, reinforcing the notion of her role as "Mother of the country."(2) Among her personal network, visits to the palace by young court ladies who the queen directly recruited were found to have started from the mid-1970s. Compared to past court ladies, larger numbers of these young women end up marrying the sons of prominent families such as new financial conglomerates and top military officials, and they tend to be reappointed to the court after marriage as well.

Free Research Field

地域研究（タイ）

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

王妃や女官といった女性の役割は、タイが上座部仏教の価値観を大きく反映しているがゆえに看過されてきた。また、タイ君主制の維持・強化には人的ネットワークが重要な役割を果たしているにも関わらず、先行研究ではその実態が不明であった。本研究は、宮中の女性という新しい観点を取り入れることで、タイの君主制を支える人的ネットワークの実態を解明でき、タイ地域研究に大きく寄与した。
現在タイでは、王位継承権を持つ男子が少ない。そのため女性王族の公務負担は大きく、女性の王位継承が盛んに議論されてきた。女性皇族の扱いについて議論が活発化しつつある日本に対しても、女性王族の意義を議論する本研究は、有益な知見を提供しうる。