Abstract:
One of the three Holy Men’s rebellions taking place between 1936 – 1959 was led by Mor Lam Sopa Pontri at Sawathi Sub-district, Mueng District, Khon Kaen in 1939. It aimed at resisting the state authority clearly. In those days, the central government attempted to merge provincial authorities with the central authority. Particularly in the Northeastern region, the government made an effort by exerting ‘cultural domination’. The passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1921 was meant to force all inhabitants whose age met the requirement to enter a Thai school. The intention was to unify all people in provincial areas with those in the center. Moreover, there were issues of the imposition of land tax and the Forest Law stirring up. Mor Lam Sopa was aware of the dissatisfaction of the Northeastern people towards the central government. So, as a folksinger in Mor Lam style, his songs were often produced to attack cultural domination of the central government and oppression of the authorities. His motive for doing so was to encourage the inhabitants to have trust in him and then join a resistance movement against the central authority. The movement of Mor Lam Sopa got support of numerous inhabitants. Due to the government’s anxiety that the movement would be far-reaching and possibly affect the stability of the government, Mor Lam Sopa and his followers were, therefore, captured and detained for 15 days. The seizure did not frighten him. He still criticized the government’s domination and oppression. Consequently, Mor Lam Sopa and the uprising leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment after the second arrest and were charged with ‘treason’. However, the court finally mitigated the sentence to 16 years. The rebellion of Mor Lam Sopa indeed reflects the misery of Northeastern people as the government would like to control their life regardless of mutual understanding. This resulted in the inadaptability of local people and their refusal to the central authority. Holy Men’s rebellions therefore still occurred in this region until 1959.
