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ความเดิมจากตอนที่แล้วหรือถ้าใครอยากติดตามความเคลื่อนไหวที่บล๊อค คุณนกฮูกก็ได้

พอดีไปค้นเจอ essay เก่าที่เคยทำไว้สมัยเรียน เป็นเปเปอร์เล็กๆ ทำส่งครู แต่ไม่เชื่อก็ต้องเชื่อ มันก็เกี่ยวกับเรื่องที่เจออยู่ตอนนี้แฮะ
ไม่แปลเป็นไทยล่ะนะ เพราะภาษาไทยก็กดอ่านเอาจากอันเดิมได้ มันก็ผีตัวเดียวกัน เรื่องเดียวกันนั่นแหละ
เผื่อแขกไปใครมา เป็นฝรั่งดั้งขอ อยากจะรู้ว่ายัยคนนี้มันบ่นอะไร
ก็...นะ...ให้มันรู้กันไป อีกสักพักอาจมีเวอร์ชั่นภาษาญี่ปุ่นตามมาก็เป็นได้
ออกตัวก่อนนะว่า มันไม่ใช่งานเขียนที่ดี แต่อย่างน้อย ก็แค่เป็นอะไรสักอย่าง เป็นแค่เสียงเล็กๆ แต่ขอให้ได้พูด ก็ยังดี
ให้เค้ารู้กันไปเลย ว่าสินค้าพื้นเมืองน่ะ มัน "เกร่อ" และถึงจุดจบมานานแค่ไหนแล้ว

** ไม่ใช่บทความที่เขียนเพื่อเรียกร้องให้เกิดการอนุรักษ์แบบหน้ามืดตามัวแบบไม่สนกระแสโลก
แต่ก็ไม่สนับสนุนการไหลตามน้ำไปแบบไร้สมอง
และที่แน่ๆ ไม่เห็นด้วยกับการเดินเข้าสู่ระบบการผลิตแบบสายพาน อุตสาหกรรม และภาคธุรกิจ แบบที่ ถนนคนเดิน "กำลังเป็น"

** The article below is not written for the craze in conservative idea,
thus it also opposes to the following ofmain stream pressures.
The point is that, it is trying to protest against the mass production and factory line products -- the state that we are 'goingto be'.
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The decline of Lanna art and culture
Researched by NyanTa
For any references please give credits

Lanna identity is a treasure of Northen people since time immemorial. With a long history of Lanna community, art and culture are practiced and inherited from generation to generation. Lanna art and culture for a long time have been regarded as the very unique and precious heritage that the ancestors left for the younger generations. In the eyes of people in different communities or foreigners, Lanna identity is very much worth to be preserved. However, in the age of globalization which has the rapid development of materials, transportation and technology, people from all over the world are connecting and exchanging knowledge, information and culture. Lanna society inevitably gets the impact of the connected world and many aspects of Lanna identity have been distorted according to the effects of the globalization. In the dramatically developed world these days, globalization is leading to the decline and devaluation of Lanna identity as reflected in art and culture.

Globalization is not really a new word for post modern generation. According to Jan Aart Scholte, globalization can be defined in various terms and meanings. The first definition is the internationalization that refers to the interaction and interdependence between people in different countries. The second is the liberalization which describes the global world as one without regulatory barriers to transfer resources between countries. Also it can mean universalization that more people and cultural phenomena spread to all over the world. Moreover, it can be paralleled to the idea of westernization according to the idea of imperialism of western countries. Another definition is that it is the deterritorialization and supraterritorialization between people (Scholte, 2003, pp.84-85). Though globalization is differently defined, the major meaning is the relation between many people regardless of places and time (Scholte, 2003, pp.84-85). According to the connection between people, there are three main impacts that have resulted in the devaluation and decline of Lanna identity. They are capitalism, hybrid culture and modernity.

The first impact is the capitalism. As globalization leads people from many other countries to be connecting between each other, the idea of cross-border investment is more or less a consequence of this situation. Many countries invest and start a business and therefore cause the international trade between many countries (Scholte, 2003, p.84). The more businesses and industries run in one country is the more forces that push the country to transform to be capitalist society. The capitalism system demands the large number of production in a very short period of time. With the requirement of the high quantity of product, capitalism needs a manufacture in a factory line production and leads to a division of labor (Wattana et al., 2001, p.57).

When capitalism reaches Lanna society, consequently there could be some effects in Lanna art and culture. Lanna culture has a great reputation of creating very unique products that strongly embodied its original art and culture. After the expansion of capitalism that requires more products, Lanna art products are made in the same style and pattern and finally become mass products (Wattana et al., 2001, pp.52-53). For example, all the wooden souvenirs in Baan Tawai look the same. It is because the artisans need to produce the products that are sellable. In order to follow the invisible hand in capitalist market that all products are the same, the only way that artisans can sell their products is to force down the price. According to this, the quality of product is reduced (Wattana et al., 2001, p.233). Moreover, the factory production and the division of labor deskill the artisans creativity and lower their role from the creators to be just labors (Wattana et al., 2001, pp.39-40, 46).

The second impact of globalization is that it brings in the hybrid culture. As Scholte puts it, the world is becoming smaller with all communication technologies which help information flow to everywhere in the world in a very short time (Scholte, 2003, p.86). When information is spreading through all over the world, the flow of culture is spreading as well. As a consequence of the flow and spread of culture, it is leading to a hybrid culture which is a consequence of multicultural of state and transnational pop culture (Tomlinson, 2003, p.275). Hybrid culture mixes the identity of each culture together and it is difficult to categorize.

The hybrid culture caused by globalization has several effects in Lanna community. The various cultures that flow through Lanna community which has conservative and unique culture are bad signs to show the shaking of Lanna identity. The obvious evidence is the mixing up of many arts from different countries in Lanna products. For example the Baan Tawai products have Burmese, Chinese and Western influence (Wattana et al., 2001, p.48). Some pieces of artworks somewhat have mixed design and can hardly be identified that they are Lanna products. Furthermore, Lanna traditional art is changed to be more modern and contemporary according to the influence of western culture. Mr.Pakorn, one of the contemporary product manufacturers, states that the consumers nowadays are no longer Thai people, so he must make his products standardized with modern and western style to serve foreign buyers desires (Pakorn).

The last impact of globalization is that it is leading the world to the modernity. According to Tomlinson, the idea of modernity is accompanied with the idea of westernization. The world is changing to be like a western lifestyle. Besides, it also brings the idea of urbanism, industrialism, economy and makes culture to be more modernized (Tomlinson, 2003, p.272). Consequently, lifestyle of people in community is changing according to modernization.

As globalization is making the world to be more modern, Lanna identity in art and culture was also affected by its impact. Modern life has changed lifestyle of people in society. Therefore, Lanna products are made to be more modern to suit with new lifestyle (Wattana et al., 2001, p.172). Traditional cloth or tube skirts are designed to be like a western style so they can be everyday use. Besides, when local people no longer use traditional Lanna products, they are transformed to be cultural commodities (Wattana et al., 2001, pp.189, 195-196, 200). Many of Lanna art products are altered to be souvenirs and decorations for people in different society that do not really need the original function of the products. As Dr. Tanet Charoenmuang, the lecturer at faculty of Social Science, argued in the seminar on the impact of modernity on Lanna, he remarks that culture is transferred to be just a showcase and decoration for tourism. This can be seen in some hotels decoration that imitated the art from religious place to decorate their hotels. This action is a strongly looking down on Lanna identity that had been preserved for a long time (Tanet).

Among the trend of globalization, Lanna art and culture are at risk of facing the decline caused by the capitalism, hybrid culture and modernity which distort and devalue the original meaning of Lanna identity. The preserved identity since historical time is now becoming the mass products, decoration and cultural commodities with fainted characteristic to be distinguished from other cultures. It is, therefore, the duty of local Lanna people to help preserve our own heritage. The way to preserve art and culture is not always to keep them as display and admire them occasionally. The best way is to practice it in everyday life and this is the only way to resist the force of globalization.

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Lists of references

Pakorn Chaiwut. Factory owner. Interview on the subject of changes of local to contemporary products. 1 December 2004. 9:00-10:30 am. P.C. Collection factory, Tambon Huaysai, Sankampang district, Chiangmai.

Scholte, Jan Aart. (2003) What is Global about Globalization? David Held and Anthony McGrew (Ed.), The Global Transformation Reader: An Introduction to the globalization debate. (pp. 84-91). Cambridge: Polity Press.

Tanet Charoenmuang. Image of Chiangmai from the past to the present in terms of policy, economy and culture. A seminar on the Impact of Modernity on Chiangmai: How to keep balance. Faculty of Humanities, Chiangmai University. 18 December 2004.

Tomlinson, John. (2003) Globalization and Cultural identity. David Held and Anthony McGrew (Ed.), The Global Transformation Reader: An Introduction to the globalization debate. (pp. 269-277). Cambridge: Polity Press.

Wattana Wattanapun, Bupa Wattanapun and Samart Srijumnong. (2001) Lanna Folk Art: Adaptation Through Changing Times. Chiangmai: Within Design.

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For further reading, please follow the lists of references.