Cushla McDonald's Report

Awarded the Irene Marshall Scholarship

Through the help of the Irene Marshall Scholarship, at the beginning of the summer I travelled to Thailand where I conducted research for my undergraduate dissertation, studying its renowned sacredscapes through the Buddhist temples of Bangkok. Known by some as 'The Land of Smiles', it is a popular tourist destination, ensued by its rich culture of Buddhist sites and rituals. Whilst many still continue a way of life centred on their ancestral roots, Bangkok is a city of contrast, breaking the century-old foundations of culture. Rich, diverse and increasingly modernised, the metropolitan city holds a plethora of juxtapositions; rich and poor, modern and traditional, old and new. My aim was to investigate these oscillations in society within the sites and rituals performed through the country's most prominent spiritual beliefs and practices, altered through differences in visitors, tourists and worshippers.

Originally I had imagined that I would travel to the northern province of Isan, whose contrast of poor, rural and agricultural characteristics would provide a perfect comparison, however upon arriving I decided that it would be better still to remain in Bangkok over the fieldwork period to ensure the collection of more comparable data to work with. This turned out in my favour, allowing me to contrast different sites within the city and so distinguish the different modes, networks and performativites in relation to a singular location. Through this I studied both localised and more touristic temples, identifying the differences in commoditisation and so the consequences in distinctive performance between people and place.

I conducted research using a triangulation method of interviews, auto ethnography and visual ethnography, allowing a well-rounded collection of qualitative data. Through this I learned not just about my field of research, but methodological approaches and project planning too; in foreign countries with people-based fieldwork being flexible is essential to data collection, but keeping to a timeframe is incredibly important. I altered my research to restrict it to one city, allowing me to familiarise myself much more with my surroundings, and so produce a far more knowledgeable and grounded set of results.

In Thailand icons of worship are found in every province, however Bangkok is a particular place of pilgrimage both for Buddhists and a heritage tourist attraction for tourists, creating a prominent link to the phenomenon of the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy. With both religious and secular drivers, this contrast provided an interesting theme of research, allowing the discovery of differences between older and younger generations. Bangkok's state-of-the-art Sky Train that I took from the airport to the city before I even began research showed me the extent of the young, technologically elite emerging class. I observed many young Thai people taking selfies in front of sites of worship, then performing Buddhist rituals and paying their respects. In contrast, whilst I found that western backpackers and tourists acted similarly by taking selfies, they did so without the same respect and understanding. Instead, wearing immodest clothing, in some case touching monks, and pointing their feet at Buddha statues, all sins in temple grounds. This disparity in knowledge of Buddhism sets them apart hugely, creating a divide not just in place performance and the ways in which people act in-situ, but also the way they act towards each other. Findings like these have huge implications for countries like Thailand that thrive on tourism; visitors must have respect and understanding for sacred spaces that they visit and the nation and population that they belong to. This is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve as the young emerging middle classes of Thailand strive to become ever more westernised, preaching to a new technological world of social media. In addition, the authenticity of sacred spaces in relation to tourism must be questioned, with implications of the false connections to place conveyed over social media. I found that whilst it is 'trendy' for backpackers to appear 'connected' with certain temples, it's in turn insulting to those who genuinely worship there; without adequate understanding of the correct performance and etiquette, tourists appear to leave with a surface knowledge of temple history, but not what is expected of them on a day-to-day level whilst visiting icons of national identity and worship. Maintaining Thailand's sacred spaces as sacred is imperative to preserving its rich history and culture, and to heighten touristic awareness of sacred meanings to avoid the secularisation of historically, culturally and religiously significant spaces through commoditisation. As Thailand's tourism sector booms and technology advances, its education must be revisited to allow a more informative approach of tourism to be created, and so roles and performativities understood in this culturally sensitive area.

I had the most incredible experience thanks to the Irene Marshall Scholarship, and am continuing to see the transformations of data and findings as I begin to write up my dissertation in full. Anyone interested in doing research abroad I would urge you to apply, it's a fantastic opportunity with huge benefits both within and outside of your degree!