Twelfth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Textbooks are typically seen in Thai society as sources of standardized knowledge, and religions form relatively significant part of their contents. Various aspects of Thai textbooks have been covered in existing literature, but the topic of religions remains open for exploration. This study, thus, examines how religions appear in the textbooks. It adopts an anthropological approach to textbooks and critical discourse analysis to look at religions in the textbooks. In total, I analyze 42 textbooks of primary school level that are used for 3 subjects: Buddhism, Social Sciences, and Duties of Citizens. The level of primary school is selected because it should be the crucial time for students’ moral and ethical formation. Notably, contents relating to Buddhism overpower those of other religions. I propose that there are three main discourses formed by religions in the textbooks: discourses about us and others, about goodness, and about Buddhism, Thai-ness, and the Thai state. I argue that these discourses show how religions, particularly Buddhism, are used by the Thai state, who governs contents in the textbooks, in hoping to create its desirable good citizens. The “good” citizens here should be religious, preferably Buddhist, and have a particular sense of goodness and nationalism. Simultaneously, those who fail to conform to this version of good citizens are stigmatized.