Event

EVENT: [MAIDS-GRID talk] Expert Research Seminar #2

Marriage Equality, Thai BL Culture, and Queer Soft Power:

Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Activism in BL Series and Among BL Idols

Thailand has recently made history by becoming the first Southeast Asian nation to legalize marriage equality. Within the context of the mainstreaming of the Thai "Boys Love" and "Girls Love" (Y) industries, this presentation extends work from my monograph Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture to ask what role - if any - did BL culture play in debates over marriage equality in Thailand. Significantly, I emphasize shifts within the Thai BL industry whereby celebrities must now demonstrate a commitment to social justice to effectively respond to young fans' desires for role models who do not engage in simplistic acts of pinkwashing. I contend that changes in the Thai BL industry reveal how the expectations of a new generation of fans mandate that contemporary Thai BL idols explicitly demonstrate their commitment to progressive political concerns to achieve success in their careers. I conclude by considering the intersections of this queer activism to the so-called Thai Wind and transnational fandom for Thai media, specifically exploring (and critiquing) how the Thai state attempts to leverage BL/GL content and LGBTQ+ rights as resources to build soft power.

SPEAKER

Dr. Thomas Baudinette is Senior Lecturer in Global Cultures, School of International Studies, Macquarie University. A cultural anthropologist, his research explores the role popular culture plays in shaping knowledge about gender and sexuality across East and Southeast Asia. His first book is Regimes of Desire: Young Gay Men, Media, and Masculinity in Tokyo (University of Michigan Press, 2021). His second book is Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture (Bloomsbury, 2023). Thomas is currently working on three book projects: an edited collection titled Riding the Thai Wind: Globalizing Thai Media, Transnational Fandom, and Soft Power Potentials; the updated English-language edition of Akiko Hori and Mori Naoko’s seminal text BL no Kyōkasho (A BL Textbook); and a monograph tentatively titled Queer Fantasies of Asia: Japanese and Korean Media Fandom in the Philippines. 

MODERATOR

Jazreen is a third-year PhD candidate at MAIDS-GRID, Chulalongkorn University, specialising in the intersection of creative industries and industrial sustainability. His current research evaluates the Thai Boys Love (BL) genre as a critical pillar of national soft power, examining the socio-environmental frameworks required for its long-term viability. Drawing upon comparative analyses of global cultural exports, specifically the environmental trajectory of the K-Pop industry, Jazreen has engaged in high-level consultations with prominent entertainment agencies, intergovernmental organisations, and national government agencies to advocate for sustainable creative economy policies. In 2025, he founded @sustaina.bl, a digital advocacy initiative that bridges the gap between media production and ethical consumption by promoting environmental and social governance (ESG) standards within the global BL ecosystem.

“MAIDS-GRID Talk: Expert Research Seminar” is a new initiative conceived and managed by GRID Ph.D. students. It provides a dedicated space for experts from diverse fields to share insights on the multifaceted issues within development studies.

Venue and Date

EVENT: [MAIDS-GRID Talk] Expert Research Seminar #1

Nature Crimes: The Convergence of Criminal Economies in the Mekong Region

The Mekong Region—particularly the tri-border “Golden Triangle” of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand—has become a hub where environmental exploitation and criminal activity converge, collectively generating billions of dollars annually for transnational enterprises. This analysis examines how nature crimes—the illegal extraction and trade of natural resources—are deeply embedded within broader illicit economies across the Mekong Region, with particular focus on post-coup Myanmar.

Speaker

Dr. Kevin Woods is a political ecologist and political geographer who received graduate degrees from Yale University and UC-Berkeley. He investigates the politics of land and resource extractivism, forest conservation, and armed conflict in Myanmar’s borderlands using mixed-methods approaches that combine ethnographic fieldwork with remote sensing analysis. His research is grounded in long-term collaborative partnerships with indigenous civil society organizations, where he co-designs and conducts field-based research in local languages. Kevin has published widely in top journals on political ecologies of war and revolution, developing concepts such as “ceasefire capitalism,” “conservation as counterinsurgency,” and “greening territoriality.” Along with his co-editors, Kevin published the book Turning Land into Capital: Development and Dispossession in the Mekong Region with University of Washington Press. He is currently finishing his second book with Yale University Press, titled The Fifth Cut: War and the Remaking of Nature in Myanmar. He has led policy engagements on resource conflicts and environmental peacebuilding in Myanmar’s ethnic territories with Forest Trends, the  States Institute of Peace, and donor-funded programs in Myanmar, and regularly briefs government agencies, diplomats, and NGOs. He has also been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and National Geographic, as well as regional media outlets. Kevin serves as a Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and a Research Associate at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science, Center for Social Development Studies in Bangkok, Thailand.

MODERATOR

Hanna Yogar. Focusing on the industrial plantations of Indonesian Borneo, Hanna investigates the clash between human-wildlife relations and rapid development, with a specific emphasis on Dayak Iban-orangutan interactions. She employs a cross-disciplinary lens, utilizing multispecies ethnography to uncover the cultural and political dimensions of the region. Her research examines the tangible material consequences and ethical frameworks governing this shifting ecological landscape.

“MAIDS-GRID Talk: Expert Research Seminar” is a new initiative conceived and managed by GRID Ph.D. students. It provides a dedicated space for experts from diverse fields to share insights on the multifaceted issues within development studies.

Venue and Date

MAIDS-GRID Talk: Expert Research Seminar #1

“Nature Crimes: The Convergence of Criminal Economies in the Mekong Region”

EVENT: The First International Development Forum in Thailand on Well being, Social Inclusion, and Sustainable Development hosted by GSID Program of Nagoya University and the MAIDS GRID Program

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We have just concluded The First International Development Forum in Thailand on “Well-being, Social Inclusion, and Sustainable Development” hosted by GSID Program of Nagoya University and the MAIDS-GRID Program. The forum started with opening remarks by Prof. YAMAGATA Hideo, the dean of GSID Program, with Dr. Aya OKADA giving the commemorative lecture.

Throughout the discussion, we exchange the views and comments on all topics that address the issues of development in various aspects. Two of our GRID students, Mr. Anthony Ukam Unor and Ms. Ma Josephine Therese Emily G. Teves, joining as the presenters of the forum, and the MAIDS-GRID director Dr. Sirima Thongsawang, as the discussants of the forum.

We have covered the topics of Inclusivity, Human Rights, Education, Migration, and methods used in studying these development issues, relating to the global trend of Sustainable Development.

The forum was concluded by Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean of The Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, giving the closing remarks and we are very honored to co-host this event with Nagoya Univeristy. We would like to , again, thanks to The GSID program of Nagoya University and Nagoya University Alumni Association Grant for supporting this event.

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