Bangkok Is Burning: Queer Cultural Productions of Thainess in Diaspora
BANGKOK IS BURNING: QUEER CULTURAL PRODUCTIONS OF THAINESS IN DIASPORA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICAN STUDIES JULY 2018 By Pahole Sookkasikon Dissertation Committee: Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez, Chair Lorena Joyce Zapanta Mariano Elizabeth Colwill Cristina Bacchilega Mariam Lam Keywords: Thai Studies, Thai American Studies, Cultural Studies, Diaspora, Gender and Sexuality, Popular Culture, and Media ©2018 By Pahole Sookkasikon All rights reserved ii DEDICATION: For everyday Thais who maintained the delicate balance. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not be here today without the unwavering support of my dissertation committee. I owe an unpayable debt to my chair, Dr. Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez, who helped deepen my project and its contributions to Thai American Studies. Throughout my tenure as a PhD student, Professor Gonzalez was tough mentor, pushing me to think about the importance of my project. “Bangkok is Burning” would not be possible without her guidance. In addition to her mentorship and help, she has been a friend, understanding that I, as a queer student of color and the child of immigrants, continually had pressing obligations outside of the academe. For her compassion, generosity, and much more, I am forever obliged. I am also indebted for the backing, intellectual growth, and friendship that my entire committee gave me throughout this process. In addition to Vernadette Gonzalez, my committee of Joyce Mariano, Elizabeth Colwill, Cristina Bacchilega, and Mariam Lam, helped cultivate my ideas, guiding me, in different ways, through the doctoral process.
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