This thesis aims to dispute derogatory and disdainful attitudes towards contemporary Thai
film, ones that follow a long history of viewing Thailand and Thai culture as inferior.
Through conducting a case study of the popular horror genre I illustrate that New Thai
cinema follows a hybrid film form that has resulted in such condescending interpretations.
This is an amalgamation of an earlier post-war 'characteristically Thai' film style that is a
product of the lower-class rural context and the globally dominant EuroAmerican 'Natural
Language' of horror. Furthermore, I illustrate that while Thai film in the post-war era
targeted the provincial lower-classes, the post-97 New Thai industry has now shifted to an
elite-sponsored model that promotes social conformity in the face of social crisis. My
research indicates that the continued presence of lower-class characteristics from this
earlier era of film disrupts the ideologically conservative agenda of New Thai productions
and functions as a traumatic expression of lower-class subjectivity in this increasingly
elitist age. The film form of contemporary Thai productions can therefore ultimately be
attributed to the continuing and increasing level of social inequality within the country and
the increasing political polarisation of Thai society in recent years