The shan people's consumption of Thai 'Chak Chak Wong Wong' television serials

Abstract

The goal of this research is to investigate the cross border consumption of Thai chak chak wong wong television serials (CCWW) by focusing on a case study in Myanmar’s Shan State. The study covers the beginnings of Thai CCWW television serials in the Shan State, dubbing operations, consumption networks, and the Shan people’s translation of CCWW into local languages. It applies the ethnographic research methods, especially the participant observation and in-depth interviews with focus groups, namely the Samphinong dubbing company in Taunggyi, the capital city of southern Shan State, as well as five distributors from Shan townships. Measurements of the CCWW consumption and its network were based on Samphinong’s accounting books for 2008. The research discovers that the cross border consumption of Thai CCWW began when the Myanmar government opened up its economic policies, which led to the introduction of new technology and media to the Shan State for community’s entertainment. As a result, the CCWW serials, mostly Buddhist drama, became popular. After the government cracked down on the foreign media, only the Samphinong group survived to dub CCWW, as well as the evening serials. New technologies, especially the satellite dish which provides television signals directly from Thailand, have changed the consumption, as well as the CCWW trade. VCDs have also become convenient media for distant consumers. The dubbing studio in Taungyi, however, faces certain risks under Myanmar’s strict media laws. Based on well-known Jataka tales, CCWW as religious dramas have minimized such problems. Negotiations have occurred with local authorities and partnerships have been formed as well. To localize CCWW for the Shan people, translations are necessary for local audience’s comprehension, for example, titles and actor’s names are changed accordingly to the Shan’s worldview, which is rather different from the original source. The Thai and Shan are widely connected by their shared cultures and religions, but in the context of modernization, the Tai worlds are diverse, as this research will illustrate. Since the Shan consumption of Thai CCWW involves a cross-cultural translation, it has demystified the common idea of the Tai brotherhood as one