“Subordination” In Modern Thai Architecture, 1960s-1980s: Case Studies of Crypto-Colonialism

ConCave Ph.D. Symposium 2022 Proceedings, April 7-8, 2022. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.This paper offers an examination of crypto-colonial discourse in Modern Thai Architecture from the 1960s tothe 1980s. It argues that the transplantation of western Modern architecture in Thailand initiated a neo-colonialcultural dynamic as the architects’ creations were subtly subjected to an American Cold War agenda established in the Southeast Asia region since the 1950s. According to the recent scholarship of Thai postcolonial studies, the term Crypto-colonialism is applied to Thailand based on its unique form of political marginality. This theory characterizes Thailand’s relation to the West as being a technically independent though essentially tributary nationstate because the country was materially dependent on western economic and political power (Herzfeld 2002, 900-901). This research thus looks at the “subordination” characteristics of Modern Thai architecture from the 1960sto the 1980s, when western powers, especially the United States, imposed their culture upon that of Thailand to undermine or deny its existence. Its analysis shows that, during these Cold War years, urban infrastructure and the hospitality industry in Bangkok and its suburbs grew rapidly due to American economic aid as well as to the need to provide accommodations for western tourists and the American military presence. The architectural design of this period was dominated by spatial concerns that rejected the new and powerful infuence of the united states over traditional Thai architectural planning. By tracing the historical consolidation of Modern architectural consumerismin Thailand and the works of American architects who were working in Thailand during the 1960s and the 1980s, this research will challenge the idea that colonial discourses were only confined to countries or regions that were directly occupied by western nations