The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics.

The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region.

INTRODUCTION

On 14 May 2023, the Move Forward Party won the General Election in Thailand with 151 seats and the votes of over 14 million Thais. This was an unexpected victory, even to the party's leadership.

Key to the Move Forward Party's victory was political fandom, in the manifestation of Dom Som. This term refers to the supporters attached to the Move Forward Party and its leader Pita Limjaroenrat. “Dom” is the abbreviation of “Fandom” and “Som” is orange, the colour of the Move Forward Party. The fandom phenomenon has long existed in different industries such as music, movies and sports; political fandom is however relatively new to Thailand. In the same way as sports fans engage with their teams or pop-culture fans engage with celebrities, political fans have a strong emotional attachment to a politician or a political party (Erikson 2008). It includes aspects of affection and activities on an individual or community level (Dean 2017).

Thailand's political fans actively participated in offline and online activities, beyond the conventional form of political support. The Dom Som promoted the Move Forward Party by creating hashtags, editing viral videos, liking and sharing content and casting Pita as the protagonist of a fictional narrative. They also discredited other parties or candidates by creating memes, finding digital footprints or trolling on social media. Election campaigning turned into a pop-culture battle, as illustrated by the social buzz over a particular choc mint drink endorsed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra versus the orange-black coffee endorsed by Pita.

This transcendence of politics into pop culture, where celebrity status and fandom can capture the popular imagination led virtually all political parties to pursue it in order to increase their popularity during the 2023 General Election. Nonetheless, it was the Move Forward Party's political fandom strategy that proved most effective. This research addresses how Move Forward Party's leader and prime minister candidate Pita Limjaroenrat was able to achieve celebrity status, while the party itself managed to establish a strong fandom that helped clinch the elections. From policy formulation to communication and marketing of candidates, the Move Forward Party was able to affect the perception and behaviour of voters through its fandom strategy.

The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics.

The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region.

THE EDITORS

Series Chairman:

Choi Shing Kwok

Series Editor:

Ooi Kee Beng

Editorial Committee:

Daljit Singh

Francis E. Hutchinson

Norshahril Saat

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The concept of political fandom, the state of being fans of a politician or of a political party, played a crucial role during Thailand’s General Election in 2023. Fandom contributed to the popularity on social media of politicians, such as Pita Limjaroenrat, the Move Forward Party’s leader and prime ministerial candidate.

• The strategies involved in achieving celebrity status for politicians are varied. This paper provides a case study of the factors behind the success of Pita and the Move Forward Party and contrasts these with reasons why Pita’s key political opponents were less effective.

• It argues that the digital age and the transcendence of politics into pop culture, where celebrity status and fandom can drive electoral outcomes, signify a profound shift in democratic participation, political engagement and the very fabric of Thai politics.

• While fandom has become a stream in participatory democracy, it also highlights the polarized and temperamental nature of Thailand’s contemporary hyper-partisan political scene.

The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics.

The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region.

INTRODUCTION

After two and a half decades in the making, since the Asian Financial Crisis, ASEAN has achieved significant progress in its economic cooperation efforts under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The region is now collectively the fifth largest economy and the second largest foreign direct investment (FDI) recipient globally, after the US. At 8 per cent of global exports, it is also a trade powerhouse.

While critics have pointed out stagnating growth in the share of intra-ASEAN trade of around 20 per cent compared to corresponding values for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the EU which stand at 60 per cent, many ASEAN economies have been successful in integrating into the Northeast Asia value chains. This underlines the fact that any form of regional cooperation among a small number of countries such as ASEAN can facilitate greater trade and investment activities with the global economy. Others have pointed out AEC's perpetual status of “work in progress”, which in itself can be considered a positive sign that it remains effective and relevant despite the ever-changing context of the global economy.

Since the 1970s, ASEAN Economic Community building has been a dynamic undertaking. It started with industrial cooperation and preferential trade cooperation in its early days; the former did not yield significant results while the latter soon called for a more holistic approach to regional economic integration. This led to the establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area in 1992.

However, the first consolidated efforts towards the AEC came only as the region emerged from the Asian financial crisis, in the face of competition in attracting FDI from big economic neighbours such as India and China. Coming together was now essential for ASEAN to offer economies of scale and to be globally competitive.

The commitment to establish the AEC by 2020 was reflected in the 2003 Declaration of ASEAN Concord II. The first AEC blueprint was adopted in 2007, aimed at establishing the AEC by 2015. It had four key characteristics: (i) a single market and production base, (ii) a highly competitive economic region, (iii) a region of equitable development, and (iv) a region fully integrated into the global economy. After eight years of implementation of the AEC Blueprint 2015, the AEC was formally established in 2015 as part of the ASEAN Community. But that was not the end of the journey.