Can ‘Soft Power Labelling’ Turn Into A Powerful ’Soft Power Movement’ ?
The debate on what ‘Soft Power’ means and whether it’s the right usage of the term as intended by Joseph Nye, the former dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, has been going back and forth since PM Srettha Thavisin announced an intention to promote ‘Soft Power’ to spur the economy.
A National Soft Power Strategy Committee has been set up chaired by the premier with Paetongtarn Shinawatra, leader of Pheu Thai party as vice chair.
Paetongtarn has dismissed criticisms on definitions and has acknowledged that many are trying to define ‘Soft Power’ but the definition is not really important as the government is trying to boost the economy through the promotion of ‘Soft Power’ .
The government has set aside a budget of 5.1 billion baht to support initiatives in 11 sectors which are design, fashion, tourism, festivals, sports, cuisine, film, music , arts, books and gaming and is expecting to generate 4 trillion baht, create 20 million jobs and raise household income.
With expected returns like that, does it matter then what ’Soft Power’ means? Or should the emphasis be on achieving it?
Now, Thailand is ‘labeling’ anything that is Thai and that has the ability to pull in the power of money and economic growth, ’Soft Power’. Creating chefs specializing in Thai food or putting up old Thai favorites such as ‘Mango Sticky Rice’ or ‘Tom Yum’ or ‘Elephant Pants’ and labelling them as ‘Soft power’ is a positive starting point as any, as it galvanizes the country and gets the public rallying around it.
However, as the country goes down this path , it shouldn’t be seen as selling old wine in a new bottle repeatedly. Traditional Thai food is now already one of the most popular cuisines where you can find Thai cooking ingredients in the remotest parts of the world. Can anything more be derived by pouring investments into this field? The answer is yes, if the industry develops with creativity and innovation and ‘Soft Power Labeling’ turns into a powerful ‘Soft Power Movement’.
To unleash the full potential of ‘Soft Power’, more needs to be done to bring it out over time and at some point, go beyond labelling conventional assets like traditional Thai food, culture, tourism and festivals etc as ’Soft Power’ and start a ’Soft Power Movement’ to generate talent and most importantly brands.
If one were to look at the ’Soft Powers’ of two other Asian countries, the Anime industry from Japan and the Kpop bands from Korea, they are both inherently Asian but appealing to the West. A blend of their own culture with the modern Western Culture.
‘Soft Power’ can emerge from any industry in a country such as chic and sophisticated fashion brands and labels from France and leading technology brands from America.
The commonality from the above examples of ’Soft Power’ is that they all have global appeal, are innovative ideas that emerged in today’s world, have a modern context and a certain distinct style of their own and lastly have the ability to spin out industries that become a money making hub for the country.
In all cases, the governments were involved in some form or another in promoting talent and brands from the beginning while establishing their country's image when ’Soft Power’ was not even a term defined by Joseph Nye yet.
Thailand has the benefit of knowing what ’Soft Power’ is and can go about building it from the beginning.
The way forward for Thailand would therefore be, as part of the ’Soft Power Movement’, to first create an awareness through our initial ’Soft Power Labeling’ which the policies are geared to do at the moment and then go about implementing the necessary policies for a ’Soft Power Movement’ to bring out a ’Soft Power’ industry or maybe several ’Soft Power Industries’.
A creative economy is based on people’s use of their creative imagination to increase an idea’s value. John Howkins developed the concept in 2001 to describe economic systems where value is based on novel qualities rather than the traditional resources of land, labour and capital. Howkin’s creativity-based model includes all kinds of creativity, whether expressed in art or innovation.
Compared to creative industries, which are limited to specific sectors, the term is used to describe creativity throughout a whole economy. The term increasingly refers to all economic activity that depends on a person’s individual creativity for its economic value whether the result has a cultural element or not. Some observers take the view that creativity is the defining characteristic of developed 21st century economies, just as manufacturing typified 19th and early 20th centuries.
Thai policy makers need to build and implement a new model for the country whereby creativity, thinking out of the box, being different and innovative are traits that need to be nurtured, respected, valued and most importantly rewarded.
Creative thinkers can come from any section of the society but unfortunately many that come from less affluent backgrounds will never see their dreams fly through lack of funding or just having to keep jobs that may not foster their talent but pays the bills. Policies need to be implemented to make sure these talents are nurtured and fostered to ensure the burgeoning of pools of talents in several fields.
Central to the ‘Soft Power Movement’ is the creation of brands.
SMEs must be encouraged and incentivized with the support of the government to build brands based on new ideas, creativity and innovation.
Building brands separates products from Thailand into a class of its own. The power of brands is that people will pay a higher price for the product because of its name.
Take any fashion label who charge exorbitant prices for their products and still generate huge revenue even though there are cheaper knockoffs available in the market.
On the other hand, see the case of ‘Elephant Pants,’ which has been labelled as one of Thailand’s ’Soft Power’. Turns out, most are manufactured in China and Thai manufacturers cannot compete with their pricing. The way to overcome this obstacle is not to compete with Chinese manufacturers on pricing but to bring up numerous Thai brands of fisherman’s pants which are creative, of unique designs, of better quality and finished to perfection.
Churning out such brands will not only be beneficial in terms of increased exports and revenue but will also go towards building up the reputation of the country as a whole, a ‘Brand Thailand’.
The power of a “Soft Power Movement’ is not to be underestimated and can restructure the thinking of how to navigate Thailand to a position of ’Soft Power’ in the world stage.
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