มองไทยผ่านใบชา: พลวัตทางอำนาจ ชนชั้น และมายาคติ

Abstract

                   The aim of article is to present the knowledge of communication. It is presented through the meanings of Chinese and English tea as constructed in Thai society as well as power and the function of power behind tea consumption, significationand taste for the two groups of tea consumers.
                   The findingsare the mythical level of the meanings of Chinese and English tea in Thai society was constructed from the power structure which varied in each period. As a result, the meanings changed relatively to those who was in power and in which direction these powerful people wanted to direct the meaning towards; for example, the power of the Chinese empire and Thai elites, the power of the British empire and Thai elites, the power of the state, and the power in the hands of the middle class.
                   Tea consumption was therefore a space where power of the Chinese and British cultural empires clashed in terms of semiology and signification.Moreover, the meanings of Chinese and English teas were used to communicate the difference of social classes. The meanings also signify difference of consumers in terms of their class, especially the elites in the past. But at the present day, the middle class use the meanings to maintain their class status.