Ex Oriente Lux 2024

83 Анискевич Ксения Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, Восточный факультет SOME MISTAKES IN CONDUCTING COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN THAILAND (SIAM) Under the influence of the Vietnamese and Chinese minorities, the communist movement emerged in Siam (Thailand) in the 1920s on the country’s outskirts, particularly in Isan. Although the Siamese government was strongly opposed to the movement and viewed communism as a threat to the country’s stability, the communist movement initially had almost no chance to attract a large number of followers due to many mistakes made by the first communists at the initial stage of the communism development in Siam. Despite all fears of the governments, the communist movement did not pose a significant threat until the mid-1960s. Among the main issues of the communist propaganda it is reasona- ble to highlight the following: the first communists in Siam were foreigners, who did not understand the Siamese traditions and ineptly conducted propa- ganda in their own languages and thus did not try to get the Siamese in- volved in the communist movement; the Vietnamese and the Chinese were primarily focused on meeting the needs of their Motherland’s front. Also, instead of creating one united front, the communists were establishing many unstable factions with no strong leadership. Another point is that the com- munist ideology had not been adopted before the 1960s. In the traditional Siamese society prerequisites for communist notions development were absent as well. Likewise, the government proactively criminalised any communist action before the communist ideas actually infiltrated the socie- ty. Therefore, due to all the above-mentioned oversights and issues faced by the first communists, the movement could not spread to a certain level which would pose an actual menace to the peace in Siam. Neverthe- less, the movement was little “red” but indeed was heatedly confronted by the Siamese governments.