Moral Diplomacy and Religious Soft Power in Contemporary Thailand: The Case of Dhammanava “Wang”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48048/ajac.2026.85Keywords:
Buddhism, Dhammanava “Wang”, Monarchy, Religious soft power, ThailandAbstract
This article examines the Dhammanava “Wang,” a palace-sponsored Buddhist initiative that has become a potent expression of Thailand’s contemporary religious soft power. While the Thai government’s 2025 soft power agenda highlights cultural and creative industries, this study argues that the country’s most consequential soft power project is unfolding domestically through a coordinated effort to reposition the new throne as a virtuous sovereign. Drawing on textual materials, domestic tours, media accounts, and the initiative’s extensions to South Asia and Europe, the article reveals how this initiative operates as an intentional regime technology that integrates ritual performance, pedagogical scripting, monastic collaboration, and the circulation of royal texts into a coherent strategy of monarchical legitimation. In comparative perspective, the Thai case challenges outward-oriented models of religious soft power by illustrating an inward, performative modality in which the primary audience is domestic, and the core aim is the ritualized reaffirmation of royal authority.
Highlights
• Conceptualizes Dhammanava “Wang” as a form of royal religious diplomacy that mobilizes Buddhist pedagogy as a tool of soft power.
• Demonstrates how the initiative advances an inward-facing model of religious soft power, shaping moral subjectivity and social conduct within Thai audience.
• Identifies a shift toward virtue-based legitimacy under the current reign, grounded in moral governance.
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References
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