Journal of Communication Arts

Revisionist Practices of Thai Y/Boys Love Industry in I Told Sunset About You (2020) and I Promised You the Moon (2021): From Romance to Queer Bildungsroman

2023-01-23T14:55:58+07:00

This research hopes to investigate the Y/Boys Love series I Told Sunset About You (dir. Naruebet Kuno, 2020) and I Promised You the Moon (dir. Tossaphon Riantong, 2021) as examples of revisionist practices that correspond to the evolution of Y/Boys Love series within a media genre. The research unfolds the importance of 2020 as a transitional year for the Y or Boys Love (BL) industry in Thailand. The evolution was mobilized by social activism, LGBTQ campaigns and criticism against the Y industry as it was perpetuating romantic love fantasy without socio-political advocacy. The two series instead embrace the call for change by integrating queer bildungsroman elements into conventions of popular romance. The queer bildungsroman has in fact been a generic code embedded in the Thai Y industry even before the Y boom in 2014, but the revisionist practices found in the two series propose a new aesthetic of the series through queering process, quests for gender identity and the subtly switched roles between seme and uke. The research endorses dynamism within the grammar of Y series. It also suggests that the two series can be located at a turning) point of aesthetic and socio-political engagements towards the new era of the Y industry in Thailand.

Resilience Beyond the Outbreak: Investigating Self-Protection Information and New Normal Lifestyle among the Thai Population in Response to COVID-19

2024-01-11T18:23:15+07:00

Research aims to elucidate and explore information access during the COVID-19 pandemic, control measures, preventive behaviors, and the adoption of new lifestyle patterns among the Thai population. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, survey data were collected from a diverse sample of 600 individuals, complemented by qualitative research through in-depth interviews with public health officials, community volunteers, community leaders, and 31 individuals. Survey results reveal that the sample group generally accessed information at a moderate level, primarily through family, friends, and neighbors. Overall, high compliance with preventive measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and frequent handwashing was observed. Embracing new normal behaviors, relaxation, and entertainment scored high, while income adjustment was moderate. In-depth research uncovered a changing perception of the pandemic, with heightened awareness during the initial outbreak, fear, and increased precautions. As the pandemic progressed, individuals exhibited vigilance during major outbreaks, transitioning to a new normal lifestyle, and eventually adopting a relaxed attitude during the post-outbreak phase. The research underscores the vital role of community health volunteers (CHVs) as communication catalysts, working alongside sub-district health promotion hospitals (HPHs) and local organizations. CHVs function as community-level health communicators, collaborating with local health authorities in disease surveillance, information dissemination, knowledge enhancement, and promoting compliance with various health measures.

Developing Health Communication Model for Enhancing Well-Being among Older Adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

2023-07-03T17:55:59+07:00

The purposes of this mixed methods research are to 1) explore the problems and needs for enhancing well-being among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic 2) analyze the behavior of information exposure about enhancing well-being among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic 3) develop health communication model for enhancing well-being among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic 4) test out public health communication model for enhancing well-being among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample group in the quantitative research is 400 older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok. Participants in qualitative research were 10 older adults in Senanikom II community. The group of 40 older adults who participated in experimental research is divided into 2 groups: 20 experimental group and 20 control group. The research found that 1) the sample had physical and mental health problems. The problem faced during the COVID-19 pandemic is physical condition. Overall, it is at a high level. In terms of mental, social, and intellectual conditions were at a moderate level. As for the health needs of the sample in terms of health knowledge, health care needs and the needs of media and communication technology for health, overall, it is at a high level. 2) information exposure behavior among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic overall is at a high level. When considering each type of media, it was found that the media which the sample used in high level of information exposure were television, followed by personal media and social media. 3) developing health communication model for enhancing well-being among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during COVID-19 pandemic is Participation-Focused Health Communication Model by using horizontal one-way health communication process 4) the results of an experiment using the health communication model for enhancing well-being among older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic can affect well-being among older adults, the average health score of the experimental group was significantly higher than before the experiment at the .05 level. As for the satisfaction level of the sample towards the health communication model used in the trial for enhancing the well-being of older adults in Jatujak, Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole is at a high level.

Lessons learned and proposed recommendations for health communication strategies for Buddhist monks under the principles of The National Sangha Health Charter

2022-09-01T18:18:18+07:00

This research is a study of lessons learned and best practices in health communication for Thai monks in four regions. The area of study comprises of 10 provinces: Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Sisaket, Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, and Trang. It is conducted with qualitative method, using focus group interviews with both Buddhist monks and lay people. The informants are divided into three groups according to “Bowon Model” –-- communities, temples, and the government--- including a Buddhist monk, a devotee in the community and a health team. According to a group interview with 62 informants, the research finds that the monks’ health is linked to the pattern of almsgiving. Buddhist monks in Thailand are facing health issues such as obesity, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and illness that come with aging. As for the best practices in media and communication for promoting the monks’ health, the research suggests that interpersonal communications played an important role in health communication. It empowers and creates changes in the health behaviors of monks and related lay people. Whilst workshops and events, group communication, and network communication promotes health engagement and participation to monks and communities. Mass media and the internet are used to disseminate health information. It helps shorten the time for health literacy learning, allowing more time for the health team to discuss and exchange experience in health issues with the monks and health volunteers. The research concludes that communication strategies to promote Buddhist monks’ health must be holistically designed by engaging from all parties, giving monks a role to play as health communicators and health leaders in accordance with the principles of The National Sangha Health Charter, with the philosophy stated that "healthier monks, healthy temple, and strong community”.

Research Dissemination Through the Southern Local Communicator

2023-08-11T18:13:12+07:00

This research aimed: 1) to disseminate the research through the southern local communicator
2) to develop the southern local research communicator.. This qualitative research was designed as action research that emphasizes using the "activity media" to achieve output and outcome that focused on the implementation of creative activities and media production for the research dissemination and activities that promote the development of southern local communicators. The samples involved instructors teaching media production-related courses and students enrolled in these courses from four universities or equivalent higher education institutions in Songkhla province. The research tools were activity management, questionnaires, interviews, and participatoty observation. The result indicated that: 1) the dissemination of research through southern local communicators had the processes that consisted of the researcher selection, the coordination with researchers seeking to publish their work, the coordination with instructors teaching media production-related courses, the students selection who able to create and produce media, the activity organization among researchers, the analyzing costs and potential within the sample group, the activity organization for developing the research communicators, and the media evaluation from the research communicator. 2) the development of southern local communicators utilized the workshop activity organization by the researcher and the knowledge training organization by educational institutions. These initiatives aimed to elevate the abilities of learners categorized as "skilled in media but not content" and those categorized as "not skilled in media and content" to transform into individuals proficient in "skilled in media and content". Factors conducive to the successful development of communication researchers include the characteristics of course instructors, the advisory roles of instructor, and the course selection. Attributes of research communicators encompass skills in reading comprehension and interpretation, understanding researchers' objectives, the audience analyzing, the audience comprehending, capable of research communication, analytical thinking, data synthesis and organization, proficient media selection and design capabilities.

Grouping Working Aged Thai Workers Based on their Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence

2023-08-10T15:42:11+07:00

Understanding the level of artificial intelligence (AI) acceptance of working age personnel is the fundamental information that the relevant agencies could use to determine the strategies to drive the use of AI systems. This research has the objective to group working age personnel based on technology readiness and adoption level. The study examines the acceptance and intention to use AI of utilizing the online survey research method for data collection. A total of 1,038 responses were collected. The statistical analysis was conducted using inferential statistics and K-means cluster analysis. The research findings indicated working age Thais could be classified into two groups. The first group are those who are familiar with using technology systems and big data. They have computer skills and use online media having no limitations in Internet access. Also, they could learn from various sources including content in English more than the second group, who were not familiar with technology systems. These two groups differed significantly on the factors of knowledge about AI systems definition (t=5.544, P=.000), performance expectancy (t=6.398, P=.000), effort expectancy to use AI tools (Effort expectancy -Competencies-CMP) (t=5.951, P=.000), facilitating conditions – data privacy (t=10.393, P=.000), and intention to use AI (t=5.081, P=.000). The two groups did not differ significantly on the factor of social influence on ethical problems in using AI systems (Social influence - Ethics - ETH) (t=1.737, P=.0.83).

The Adaptation of Media Outlets Toward Business Survival and Social Role: Case Studies of Mainstream News Organizations

2023-08-15T11:43:05+07:00

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the adaptation of the media outlets that distribute their content on both traditional and online media platforms and 2) to study the factors affecting those media outlets’operation. The sociology of journalism, the political economy of media, and studies on media business were applied as the study’s conceptual framework to examine the five selected news organizations. The qualitative methodology was used in this study, including content analysis of daily news publicized from 16 March to 14 April 2021, news framing analysis of the coverage of key events in Thailand in 2020, and in-depth interviews with news organizations’ executives and editorial staffers. The study revealed that, firstly, large and medium-size organizations underwent administrative structure adjustments to facilitate cross-platform reporting. Different media outlets under the same company shared the news database and occasionally planned their coverage on both traditional and online platforms together. News pegs and presentation formats were designed to fit with the organization’s original identity. News organizations tended to specify their target audience based on the organizations’ primary content and editorial expertise. Meanwhile, revenue generations were enhanced through diversification, and large media outlets focused on frequently posting a great number of short-form contents to increase revenue via programmatic advertising. Secondly, the factors affecting the operation consisted of the internal factors, namely the organizational policy on resource management, the identification of news pegs which often aimed to generate profit, and the newsroom management’s understanding of online content presentation. The external factors include economic recession, highly competitive media market caused by the rising number of entrepreneurs, the platform providers’ advertising revenue allocation systems, and the illiberal political regime, all of which rendered the media outlets unable to completely fulfill the obligation of journalism in democracy.