The website Revolutionary Objects, a partnership between the Field Marshal Plaek and Thanphuying La-iad Phibunsongkhram Foundation, Waiting You Curator Lab, and the Siddhi-Issara Foundation, was launched on 14 September 2024 at the event “Revolutionary Objects: the Material Culture of Khana Ratsadon” hosted by the Chiang Mai bookstore Book Re:public.
Initiated by architecture scholar Chatri Prakitnonthakan and cultural historian Søren Ivarsson, the website grew out of their shared interest in the phenomenon of newly created objects related to Khana Ratsadon (the People’s Party—not to be confused with the recently-created political party Phak Prachachon whose English name is “People’s Party”) since the explosion of anti-dictatorship protest in 2020: calendars, graphic fonts, keychains, augmented reality modeling of an urban landmark, architectural features of a house in the countryside, among others.
In the process of writing an article together, they decided to embark on a parallel project of creating a digital platform to preserve and make accessible these new objects as well as the original artifacts they characterized as “inconvenient heritage for the conservative-royalist establishment.”
“We regard the new quotidian, mundane objects related to the People’s Party as important carriers of a potent counterhistory that counter the banal objects sustaining the power of the monarchy in Thailand,” said Ivarsson during the opening remarks.
The work of historical conservation is also one of historical conversation, as the new objects since 2020 were in part a vocal response to the post-2014 destruction of original objects, itself a silencing response to the renewed interest in them after the 2006 coup.
“Historically speaking I find this interesting, because it echoes a classic historian’s statement that history is not simply a story about the past, but rather a conversation between the past and the present,” Chatri explained. “How do we keep this conversation going in the future? The first step in my view is to ensure that the objects which are primary sources remain in existence. Only then can a conversation be started, whether in pro or contra.”
Søren Ivarsson and Chatri Prakitnonthakan introducing the website Revolutionary Objects. Image courtesy of Prachatai, from the video recording of the event.
Filling knowledge gaps
The website archives and exhibits the art, architecture, and design of Siam’s post-revolutionary era (1932-1947) and its rebirths after the coups in 2006 and 2014.
The pilot project features 40 objects. The visitor can explore the collection through the tabs on top of the homepage, which selectively highlight those objects pertaining, respectively, to architecture, art, cultural or everyday items, and printed matter. The visitor can also go to the Timeline page, which places the objects in four historical periods: the Khana Ratsadon era (1932-1947), the neglect and amnesia (1947-2006), the revival of popular and academic interest dubbed the Second Rebirth of Khana Ratsadon (2006-2014), and the wave of demolitions and subsequent recreations dubbed the Third Rebirth of Khana Ratsadon (2014-present). Also on the Timeline page, yet another axis divides the objects into those created by the state and those created by the people.
It should be noted that “the people” include detractors of the revolution as well. Of the 40, a few objects of a conservative-royalist bent help paint a fuller picture of today’s contestation over the past. The “2475 Dawn of Revolution Animation” (2021), for example, is described on the website as “one of the most straightforward expressions of the royalist perspective on the People’s Party in modern times.”
Accompanying each object is a brief intro section as well as a 500-word or longer essay that explains the object’s significance in context and points the reader to relevant literature. The essay writers were: Jirat Prasertsup, Saranyu Thepsongkraow, Naris Charaschanyawong, Siridet Wangkran, and the two project leads. The forty essays are fully available in Thai and English.
The pilot project was funded by the Field Marshal Plaek and Thanphuying La-iad Phibunsongkhram Foundation and executed by a team from Waiting You Curator Lab led by Kittima Chareeprasit. Going forward, the project’s caretaking will transfer to the Siddhi-Issara Foundation. If you wish to contribute to filling knowledge gaps about Khana Ratsadon in all its manifestations, submissions of objects with accompanying essays are welcome to [email protected].
Making art and design legible
Another knowledge gap comes not from the loss of objects but from the overreliance on the written word for historical research. A panel discussion during the final portion of the event sought to address this gap by inviting artists and enthusiasts to speak about their art objects.
“Studies of Khana Ratsadon in the present era might not pay attention to this aspect of art and architecture that did not come with a written commentary. So [the artists] need to be tracked down for an interview and a written record,” said Chatri. “We are trying to record the words of people who may not be good at or like conveying their ideas through writing or speech. Many people communicate what they think through the making of everyday objects.”
Moderated by Chatri, the panel discussion “2475[1932] in everyday life: Khana Ratsadon in contemporary design” explored two revolutionary objects at length: a ceramics set and an Art Deco house.
Informally known online as the “upside-down crown” collection, the ceramics set was inspired by a 2020 protest sign bearing a Thai translation of the passage “let the crown […] be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is” from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. The coffee cups, mugs and vases also incorporated design elements from Khana Ratsadon’s constitutional pedestal and its six principles. The artist is Boonchanin Soodtasom, of Gung Mog Kaam craft & arts studio in Pai, Mae Hong Son province. Boonchanin’s geographic distance and artistic inclinations led him to a different kind of participation in the pro-democracy movements of 2020-2021.
“Since I couldn’t participate in street protests with my friends, I chose to support the movement through what I do best—designing products and donating a portion of the profits to bail funds. I also wanted to contribute to spreading the ideals of Khana Ratsadon through everyday items, just as Khana Ratsadon did in the past,” Boonchanin explained.
Boonchanin Soodtasom speaks of his “upside-down crown” ceramics during the panel “2475 in everyday life: Khana Ratsadon in contemporary design.” Image courtesy of Prachatai, from the video recording of the event.
A private revival of public architecture
The discussion on the Art Deco house was joined by the owner Sittha Lertphaiboonsiri and the designer Tamnanka Lertmanlikapohn, of the Chiang Mai-based company HUES Development, who built on the original design by Chatri Prakitnonthakan.
A vacation home with a mountain view in Mae On, Chiang Mai, the Setara house combines many architectural features of Khana Ratsadon era: Art Deco public hospital buildings in Lopburi, a province of Sittha’s childhood; six house pillars spaced six meters apart, representing the Six Principles of Khana Ratsadon; fence columns from a Lampang sugar factory initiated by Phraya Phahol for import substitution. These design features reflect Sittha’s will to remember Khana Ratsadon as champions of public welfare and economic security.
“One thing people tend to forget in discussions about the Six Principles of Khana Ratsadon is that only three [Independence, Equality, and Liberty] are remembered, but not so much the other three: Economy, Education, and Safety,” said Sittha. “If I were to answer the question of what the constitution was to the general public, I’d say that an interesting memory shared by ordinary people has to do with their learning about the system of a chicken farm system, the methods of raising imported hens as a new income source and for food security … This was an accomplishment of Khana Ratsadon that was palpable to the general public.”
Chatri, whom Sittha approached for the original design, had his own reasons for taking part in the project. As Chatri once said in an interview by art4d: “After several buildings were regrettably destroyed, I wanted to push for the revival of this architectural style in the Thai social context. It has been negatively perceived as valueless and un-Thai. Meanwhile, other Western styles, like buildings constructed during the reign of King Rama V to VII, are recognized as having a Western appearance yet are accepted as part of Thai architectural heritage. But this particular style doesn’t hold that same status.”
The house name Setara was taken from the Indonesian word for equal, due to the owner’s fascination with colonial-era Art Deco buildings in Bandung, Indonesia, where Sittha did research.
Of the design process, Tamnanka detailed how the Setara wasn’t simply a scaled-down replica of Khana Ratsadon buildings, but a genuine revival for a new set of functions: a personal home, a kitchen and dining area, a private gallery for historical artifacts, a mountain view.
She also relayed how a “feeling of equality” was present during the construction itself, where the six construction workers—the number was a coincidence—were personally taken care of by Sittha (a child of a worker was hit by a car and Sittha drove the child to the hospital) and were the first people to take a group photo with the house.
Once finished in 2021, a story about the Setara made rounds on social media, where Tamnanka was surprised by over a hundred thousand views, with many people learning for the first time that Art Deco was part of Thai architectural heritage.
“Once the house was out in public, perhaps it became more than just a work of art, but a crucible for some sort of idealism (udomkan), which led us to meeting each other today,” said Tamnanka. “I think that it has formed a mass of activity that, if we keep going, can maybe grow into a big ball of power in the future. That can maybe bring about real change.”
From the left: original designer Chatri Prakitnonthakan, house owner Sittha Lertphaiboonsiri, and designer Tamnanka Lertmanlikapohn. Image courtesy of Prachatai, from the video recording of the event.