An exploration of young people's experiences of living with mental illness in Phuket

The primary objective of this study was to explore some of the experiences of young people living in Phuket with a mental illness. Much academic material regarding mental illness is from a Western medical perspective, leaving out consideration for Eastern cultures and context. In Phuket, life is an amalgamation of both Western and Eastern cultures, and it is not possible to research one perspective without also seeing the impact of the other. To understand how ex-pats and Thai nationals experience living with mental illness in Phuket, it is important to give people an opportunity to speak about this cultural context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four young adults living in Phuket with a mental illness. Thematic analysis identified common themes including where mental illness comes from, family background, interpersonal relationships, living with a mental illness, lifestyle. Participants understood their illness as arising in part from their family background, genetic components and environmental factors. Family support as well as other interpersonal relationships were important support factors for living with mental illness. Participants expressed feeling stigma from others regarding their mental illness, which led to difficulties in school, employment, housing, and interpersonal relationships. The study found that the participants had high self-awareness regarding their mental illness, their perceptions of themselves and how others view them. It is concluded that Phuket offers the participants a positive cultural context for healing based on Thai cultural values

Linguistic and cultural oppositions in discourse about Thailand

The thesis investigates the rhetorical construction of textual oppositions in the representation of Thailand in a post-colonial context. It falls within the field of linguistic oppositions pioneered by Jeffries (2014) and Davies (2008, 2010 and 2013). It concurrently offers a means of examination of tourism-related promotional discourse related to Thailand as particularised in Lonelyplanet.com and Stickmanbangkok.com. The thesis also takes into consideration and examines critically, personal views on Thai-Western relationships submitted by contributors to the Readers' Submissions section in Stickmanbangkok.com. At the micro-level, this study is a qualitative analysis of the linguistic oppositions. These linguistic oppositions are examined using lexical and syntactic triggers. These triggers detect both external and internal oppositions. The external oppositions are those that pertain to the Us/ Them relationship between Thailand and its Other, namely tourists from the West or other origins. The internal oppositions are related to differences among Thai communities. The textual oppositions are conceptualised and subsequently investigated by comparing them to macro-level oppositions identified to establish the extent to which the textual oppositions detected in this study conforms to the pre-existing cultural oppositions. The significant findings show that, at the micro-level, the external oppositions could be conceptualised broadly into the domains of FAMILIARITY, DEVELOPMENT, and DEGENERACY. At the macro level, the finding reveals conformity of the textual oppositions to the six stereotypes of Orientalism (Said 2003, McLeod 2012): namely, the association of Thailand and Thai people with the concept of being UNDEVELOPED as opposed to the civilised Other. These categories are also applicable to the internal representation of classes within Thailand. For instance, the Isan people are represented as 'the Other within' due to their cultural disparities from the rest of the Thais. Nevertheless, to the Western writers, the people of Isan, as well as the prostitutes, appear to represent the authenticity of the country. Ultimately, the investigation of linguistic oppositions shows that the writers in both websites write about Thailand in a way that conforms to the discourse of Orientalism (2003), namely in the recurring application of DEVELOPED/ UNDEVELOPED in the representation of space and relationships. However, permanent discourses are also challenged. For instance, when used in gradable forms in which the opposite pairs share some similarities, Thailand and its other are not entirely different after all. Therefore, to a certain degree, the writers both contribute to and challenge Said's Orientalist discourse (2003)

Sexual Harassment by Hotel Customers: Impacts on Workers, and Reactions from Management: A Thailand Study

Sexual harassment (SH) in the hospitality industry is prevalent. This study investigates the phenomenon of sexual harassment of hotel staff by customers in Thailand. There are two main research objectives. The first is to explore the relationship between factors such as age, gender, marital status, and race and how these factors are influenced by the characteristics of the hotel industry as a service provider. The second is to investigate the perception of hotel staff concerning their sexual harassment experiences, in the following six areas: whether hotel staff consider such experience as sexual harassment; whether male and female staff perceive such experience similarly; the staff's perceived severity of sexual harassment; type of sexual harassment by customer (verbal, physical, visual, or written); how staff react to sexual harassment; how sexual harassment impacts on staff. The research employs a mixed methodology. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with hotel executives and Human Resource managers in Bangkok, Thailand. Another sixty in-depth interviews were conducted with general hotel staff at a number of different locations throughout Thailand. The in-depth interview data were explored using thematic analysis – as suggested by Creswell’s generic process of qualitative data analysis (2003) and Braun and Clarke (2006)’s Phases of Thematic Analysis. The last part of the research involved five hundred surveys distributed to hotel staff in eight locations in Thailand and was based upon the thematic analysis of the in-depth interview with hotel executives, Human Resource managers and staff, with reference to the literature. The data from the survey were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Statistics analysis included descriptive statistics (means and frequencies of answers to each item) and nonparametric tests which were used to examine the relationships between dependent and independent variables. Integration of qualitative and quantitative data was carried out in the discussion chapter. The research reveals that the personal characteristics of hotel staff, as well as the specific hotel job and characteristics of the hospitality environment were contributory causes for sexual harassment. The study results also indicate that sexual harassment is prevalent and severe in the Thai hotel industry. Female staff were more vulnerable to severe physical sexual harassment than their male counterparts. However, both male and female staff were vulnerable to sexual harassment. The research also indicates that although they were a small part of the data set, homosexual staff were the most vulnerable to sexual harassment. Evidence indicates that staff experienced all forms of harassment (verbal, visual, physical, and written). The physical form was considered the most severe and might trigger a complaint from staff. Written forms of harassment were considered to be the least severe and rarely occurred. Verbal and visual forms were normal and accepted by most staff. Men were more tolerant of sexual harassment than women. Sexual harassment had a range of impacts on staff but most accepted it as part of the job and simply ignored it. Staff employed multiple methods to cope, ranging from ignoring it to informing legal authorities. However, the research indicates that most staff did not complain except in the most severe cases (such as rape). Sexual harassment also impacted on a hotel's image and reputation. It is of note that the research indicates that hotels were not equipped in regards to sexual harassment policies and complaint handling procedures. The study also indicates that some Thai cultural and social issues had played a significant role in the prevalence of sexual harassment. These include the cultural differences (between the Thai workers and the foreign customers), the significant presence of prostitutes, patriarchy and the legal system. This study demonstrates that hotels should consider the need for management commitment, effective sexual harassment policy, good communication, recruitment and training. The research also recommends culture change within the management of the hotel, improvement of physical hotel security and infrastructure as well as government and tourism regulators’ cooperation. Apart from the cultural aspect, sexual harassment theory should incorporate the environment settings into its definition and application. Sexual harassment in the hospitality industry and other service industries has some common elements such as the harasser, the forms of conduct, and the victim. However, each industry may have its own characteristics and settings that facilitate the misconduct. This makes one service industry more susceptible than the others to sexual harassment. Future research should focus on both these common and different elements. The study of sexual harassment in other service industries such as nursing, airlines, health care and so forth is recommended. The study concluded that there were a multiple causes that trigger sexual harassment in hotels and proposes an Integrated Model/Dimension of Customer Sexual Harassment (IMCSH) as a theoretical framework for sexual harassment study in hotels as it is of considerable interest to both academics and practitioners. It gives a new multi-dimension to the interrelationship between sexual harassment and the characteristics of hotel staff, hotel premises, sociocultural characteristics of the country as well as the characteristics of the hospitality itself. This lends itself to further research which will help gain a greater understanding of this interrelationship

Writing Thailand: a creative exploration of Thai cultural identity in the form of English-language short fiction and non-fiction

This thesis is comprised of a creative and critical component. The creative component is a collection of short stories and non-fiction vignettes centred around Thai identity named Thai Myths and Other True Stories. It performs the fragmented nature of identity by juxtaposing short stories that belong to very different genres of writing, including several retellings of Thai myths, and by blurring the lines between fiction and non-fiction. Many of the pieces are written in response to either the official government vision of Thai identity, or to the tourist expectations about Thailand. The critical component includes a critical essay and commentary. The critical essay delineates the theoretical frameworks centred around the writing of non-native English speakers and exploring aspects of Thai culture. It also offers an analysis of the themes and narrative strategies of selected texts by a range of writers – namely S.P. Somtow, Rattawaut Lapcharoensap, Salman Rushdie and Nathan Englander – whose projects resemble that of this thesis. The commentary details the process of writing the short story collection and investigates the implications of the choices made by the author regarding the form and thematic, and the styles and approaches influenced by the four writers mentioned in the critical essay

Socio-cultural changes in Thai beach resorts: a case study of Koh Samui Island, Thailand.

Apart from the obvious and visible effects on the economy and the physical environment, tourism can contribute to social and cultural changes in host societies. Many host communities put their hopes on tourism as an economic driver and development tool. However, it is still unclear whether tourism is more useful or harmful towards host destinations. It is obvious that international tourism would be a short pathway to make the transition from a traditional way of life to a modem form of society. Many studies show that destinations consider these changes positively in terms of modernisation and affluence. However, the interaction between two different cultures creates change processes over time, especially in an Eastern context where the modernisation process is Western in orientation. Prior studies on residents' attitudes and perceptions toward socio-cultural impacts of tourism identify various relationships. However, much less analysis has focused on the influence of cultural factors. Additionally, most previous studies focus on residents' attitudes and perceptions towards tourism development through quantitative surveys with cluster or factor analysis based on a limited range of predetermined attributes. Few studies explore the changes from an indigenous culture perspective. The aim of this research is to develop a better understanding of the residents of a Thai beach resort's attitudes towards tourism, in particular their perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development and the associated behavioural changes in their society. Koh Samui was chosen for this investigation as it is a self-contained model of a beach resort development where there are sociocultural impacts. A constructivist paradigm approach was adopted. Consideration is given in the literature review and the methodology chapters to issues related to conducting research in the Thai context. Choosing qualitative research serves as a bridge, which can link theory, practice and deeper findings. This research employed participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The background of the local residents and local context in Koh Samui were explored as well as local residents' behaviour patterns and the interaction between them and tourists on a day to day basis. Following a period of immersion in the community, residents' and local authorities' perceptions and attitudes toward the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development in Koh Samui were investigated through semi-structured interviews. Isan migrant workers emerged from the data analysis as a key issue due to the fact that local people believed these migrant workers were responsible for the majority of socio-cultural impacts in Koh Samui including demographic changes, rise in crime, drug abuse, prostitution and AIDS infection, demonstration effects, and increased poverty and slums. Consequently, local people were offended by and fearful of Isan migrant workers. In addition, the analysis suggests that Isan migrant workers had adapted to more readily to tourist culture. Acculturation and social identity theory are explored to explain this situation. Social identity suggests that Isan migrant workers were out-group of Koh Samui as well as sense of belongingness as a self-esteem was a key answer to this adaptation in Isan migrant workers. Buddha's teaching and the Thai avoidance of confrontation are the main players in order to reflect on how Thai people cope with socio-cultural changes. The majority of local residents in Koh Samui are Buddhist and this has taught them to accept problems and learn how to live with them. A fundamental factor is an Eastern world view. In Koh Samui, it was necessary for local people to accept tourism and cope with socio-cultural changes in their community so as not to reject the apparent benefits of tourism. The findings illustrate many contexts in which local people are led by their cultural background to accept tourism. Following a crisis in local agriculture which was dependent on coconuts, tourism seemed to be the only way for local people to survive. It is, therefore, difficult for them to blame tourism as a cause of the main socio-cultural problems in their community. Therefore, they try to apportion blame elsewhere, in this case on the Isan migrants. Buddhism is followed by ninety-five percent of Thai people. It is undoubted that Buddhism has a strong influence on everyday life of Thai people, their society and culture. The implications of Thai cultural conditions and responses in the everyday life that were emerged from the analysis are discussed including Thai loose social structure, cool heart behaviour, the concept of Choei, face-saving and avoidance of confrontation, Boonkhun relationships, Kreng-jai value, Num-jai value, and brotherhood or helpful relationships. The importance of exploring an indigenous cultural perspective is discussed together with lessons that can be learned for tourism development and its socio-cultural impacts

Tourism policy implementation in the developing world : The case of Phuket, Thailand.

Tourism is growing rapidly in many developing countries, often encouraged by the view that tourism can overcome many of their economic difficulties. Tourism policy and planning is especially vital in these countries so as to avoid resource depletion, unsafe activities and inefficient development. Yet there remains only a limited research literature on tourism policy and policy implementation in the developing world. This study investigates the practical application of tourism policies in a developing country, with a particular focus on the sources of any gaps between tourism policies and their implementation. The study's approach involved developing a conceptual framework of issues related to tourism policy implementation, with this drawing on research on policy implementation in both developed and developing countries. This conceptual framework integrates ideas from several disciplinary fields and it recognises the integrity of both top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementation. The framework is applied to evaluate the application of three tourism-related policies in the case of Phuket in Thailand, with the policies being for the management of entertainment venues, the control of development in protected areas, and for beach safety. Attitudes to the implementation of these policies, including to the causes of any gaps between policy intent and practice, were assessed based on the views of actors involved in the policy processes and their effects. Relevant primary data were collected through semistructured interviews, document analysis and field observation. The study findings are used to evaluate the value of the conceptual framework. The study indicates that the three tourism-related policies were implemented in Phuket through a centralised policy system, with much control resting with national government and its officials. There was only a limited degree of local involvement, local consultation, and of evaluation and revision of policy based on local experiences. Many of the actors involved in Phuket's policy processes experienced difficulties related to bureaucratic administration, overlapping jobs, resource scarcity and lax enforcement. Many of them also noted how policy implementation was affected by Thailand's organisational culture and the people's socio-cultural values, including the prominence of hierarchical social relations and the potential for clientelism. The results alsohighlight the difficulties of enforcing regulations that might have limited the economic development of Phuket's tourism sector. This study contributes to our understanding of practical issues surrounding tourism policy implementation in developing world contexts. It also adds new theoretical insights, such as by demonstrating the value of a hybrid perspective on tourism policy implementation. This 'hybridity' recognises the complexity and uncertainty of policy implementation by combining both top down and backward mapping approaches to the subject

Remembering your Feet: Imaginings and Lifecourses in Northeast Thailand

This thesis takes examples from villager’s experiences of change, how they perceive it and how they imagine their futures. The poor are often portrayed as passive recipients of change rather than agents of it and this thesis is a challenge to that. In-depth ethnography and life course analysis help us understand the meanings attached to people’s own experiences of change and illustrate that villagers are not merely ‘forgetting their feet’ (veuaa leum dteen- cows forget their feet, Thai proverb) in a teleological manner but are negotiating adverse structures to provide security and family wellbeing. An actor oriented approach is used as it highlights experiences of change and reactions to it whilst also taking into account the adverse political economy and imperfect institutional landscape. Changes that have been happening in one village in North-eastern Thailand are described and the failure of collective forms of resistance to provide adequate security is analysed. The rest of the thesis then goes on to look at change through individual and household strategies. Cohort analysis is used to explore differences in generations. An individual life course approach is then used to show how people strategise for their present and future wellbeing. Intergenerational analysis is also used to understand the bargaining between generations. Findings show the intergenerational contract is not only flexible but is also being re-worked to better fit the changes in society, not necessarily breaking down. Families are evolving and are finding new ways to keep bargains whilst also taking advantage of new identities and lifestyles. Findings show the active negotiation of the rural poor as agents of change; this change is dependent on place and the life course and sometimes entails large tradeoffs but seen in the wider context is supporting the reproduction and survival of families and rural values. I argue that perceived ideological similarities between families and the state that families should provide their own welfare without dependency is lessening pressure on the state to increase state welfare. However, there are differences between state ‘sufficiency economy’ versions of welfare and what poor families need. Pressure is building for better welfare, but it needs to be done in a way that facilitates and strengthens family provision.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Socio-cultural changes in Thai beach resorts : a case study of Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Apart from the obvious and visible effects on the economy and the physical environment, tourism can contribute to social and cultural changes in host societies. Many host communities put their hopes on tourism as an economic driver and development tool. However, it is still unclear whether tourism is more useful or harmful towards host destinations. It is obvious that international tourism would be a short pathway to make the transition from a traditional way of life to a modem form of society. Many studies show that destinations consider these changes positively in terms of modernisation and affluence. However, the interaction between two different cultures creates change processes over time, especially in an Eastern context where the modernisation process is Western in orientation. Prior studies on residents' attitudes and perceptions toward socio-cultural impacts of tourism identify various relationships. However, much less analysis has focused on the influence of cultural factors. Additionally, most previous studies focus on residents' attitudes and perceptions towards tourism development through quantitative surveys with cluster or factor analysis based on a limited range of predetermined attributes. Few studies explore the changes from an indigenous culture perspective. The aim of this research is to develop a better understanding of the residents of a Thai beach resort's attitudes towards tourism, in particular their perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development and the associated behavioural changes in their society. Koh Samui was chosen for this investigation as it is a self-contained model of a beach resort development where there are sociocultural impacts. A constructivist paradigm approach was adopted. Consideration is given in the literature review and the methodology chapters to issues related to conducting research in the Thai context. Choosing qualitative research serves as a bridge, which can link theory, practice and deeper findings. This research employed participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The background of the local residents and local context in Koh Samui were explored as well as local residents' behaviour patterns and the interaction between them and tourists on a day to day basis. Following a period of immersion in the community, residents' and local authorities' perceptions and attitudes toward the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development in Koh Samui were investigated through semi-structured interviews. Isan migrant workers emerged from the data analysis as a key issue due to the fact that local people believed these migrant workers were responsible for the majority of socio-cultural impacts in Koh Samui including demographic changes, rise in crime, drug abuse, prostitution and AIDS infection, demonstration effects, and increased poverty and slums. Consequently, local people were offended by and fearful of Isan migrant workers. In addition, the analysis suggests that Isan migrant workers had adapted to more readily to tourist culture. Acculturation and social identity theory are explored to explain this situation. Social identity suggests that Isan migrant workers were out-group of Koh Samui as well as sense of belongingness as a self-esteem was a key answer to this adaptation in Isan migrant workers. Buddha's teaching and the Thai avoidance of confrontation are the main players in order to reflect on how Thai people cope with socio-cultural changes. The majority of local residents in Koh Samui are Buddhist and this has taught them to accept problems and learn how to live with them. A fundamental factor is an Eastern world view. In Koh Samui, it was necessary for local people to accept tourism and cope with socio-cultural changes in their community so as not to reject the apparent benefits of tourism. The findings illustrate many contexts in which local people are led by their cultural background to accept tourism. Following a crisis in local agriculture which was dependent on coconuts, tourism seemed to be the only way for local people to survive. It is, therefore, difficult for them to blame tourism as a cause of the main socio-cultural problems in their community. Therefore, they try to apportion blame elsewhere, in this case on the Isan migrants. Buddhism is followed by ninety-five percent of Thai people. It is undoubted that Buddhism has a strong influence on everyday life of Thai people, their society and culture. The implications of Thai cultural conditions and responses in the everyday life that were emerged from the analysis are discussed including Thai loose social structure, cool heart behaviour, the concept of Choei, face-saving and avoidance of confrontation, Boonkhun relationships, Kreng-jai value, Num-jai value, and brotherhood or helpful relationships. The importance of exploring an indigenous cultural perspective is discussed together with lessons that can be learned for tourism development and its socio-cultural impacts.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Hilltop 1-24-2005

https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop_0010/1208/thumbnail.jp

Developing The Model Of Inclusive Religious Education At Indonesia And Thailand Elementary Schools

Indonesia and Thailand are a portrait of a country that has a diversity in many ways a complete and varied. The two countries are multicultural countries with diverse of ethnicity, race, religion and class. Ethnic diversity or ethnicity, religion, race, and class (SARA) both in Indonesia and in Thailand is the incredible potential that shows the wealth of the two people. The religious diversity of the citizens will be additional power for the common good in both countries if it is properly managed. But the fact of diversity in both countries during this precisely often a source of conflict and violence in particular that based on religious fanaticism. The conflict and violence in the name of religion are also caused partly by the lack of inclusiveness and multicultural understanding besides superficial, erroneous, and religious attitudes. Religious education is expected to be a means to instill an inclusive attitude and values of multiculturalism and understanding of the religious right for children. But the reality in the field of religious education in schools rated yet managed to portray a function to create values of inclusiveness to the students. One is the religious attitude of teachers still regard his religion most right while other religions wrong and also teachers who are still awkward to interact with people of different religions. But in the context of a multicultural society, the teachers have to realize that mutual respect is important to do for peace in society. Secondly, in the context of learning, the teacher has to have an understanding that mutual respect is important also built for the students, but do not yet have approaches and learning strategies appropriate and adequate to carry out learning based on the values of inclusiveness. Therefore, the religious teachers need an Inclusive Religious Educational Model that relevant to both in the learning process in the classroom and in everyday life at school. Third, this study has been able to formulate models for Inclusive Religious Education through two approaches, namely: Inclusive Education Approach to Teacher of Religion and Education inclusiveness-based on culture by teacher to student. Inclusive education approach to the Teacher in the form of substantive modules that the contents refers to intersubjective working procedure by Amin Abdullah as the basis for determining the value target and formulating the basic competence and indicator. While the Inclusive Educational approach of Teacher to the Student refers to the Lickona’s theories on the development of school culture that covers for six elements, namely: (1) leadership and exemplary moral, (2) the discipline as a whole, (3) the growing sense of fraternity, (4) democratic atmosphere, (5) a harmonious cooperation, and (6) to agenda for special time in discussing the issues of character. Fourth, model validation conducted with the involvement of education experts in Indonesia and Japan in the form of a Forum Group Discussion (FGD). From the FGD activities is obtained many useful advice related to the basic theory of inclusive development model of religious education, design models, as well as the content of the developed model. The submission is then used as the basis of improvement on prototype models. After improving inclusive religious educational model for both for religious teachers and students then it is reliable to be tested in the field. Keyword: Inclusive, Religious Education, Elementary Schoo