The "wealth is under the land and water" so says a realistic local Thai proverb indicating the country's fertility. In addition to spectacular nature, Thailand is also rich in tradition, art, and culture. The ways of life of the Thai people are influenced by and associated with Buddhism, which plays an important role in inspiring a caring and compassionate nature. More than anything else, the Royal Institution, the king, has played such an important role in keeping his people together for centuries. It seems that Thailand has remained independent because of the modern vision and tenacious work of the kings. They have devoted their whole lives to the country by sacrificing for the welfare of their people. Each monarch has consistently performed so many works for his people. For example, King Rama V traveled to many countries in Asia and Europe to make friends, learn new things, and apply those ideas to his own country. He founded many essential infrastructures and systems such as education, transportation, science, medicine and telecommunications. In addition, King Rama V also influenced Thai arts by transforming them during his reign. When he visited European countries, first in 1897 and then in 1907, he participated in the international Italian art exhibition, the Venice Biennale.
He was very interested and collected the works of many artists such as Girolamo Induno, Achille Gilsenti, Eduardo Gelli. He also hired an Italian architect, Mario Tamagno, to design palaces and buildings in Thailand, for example Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, Parutsakawan Palace, Thai Koo Fah Building-Government HouseThai Koo Fah.^[1] Later, King Rama VI, who was very interested in the arts, hired Corrado Feroci, known as Silpa Bhirasri, an Italian who had worked in Thailand as a Thai civil servant. Feroci became a very important person in the Thai arts community. He was the first person to implement the learning and teaching methods called Academics in Thailand. In 1935 he founded the art school called Praneetsilapakorn, which later became Silapakorn Art University in 1943. The latter is the first art university in Thailand. Initially, it had two departments: Painting and Sculpture^[2]. Many students who graduated from those departments have played an important role in the development and advancement of Thai art and artists, making them internationally known. In addition, Feroci's students have also helped extend art education by establishing more art departments in universities throughout Thailand. Another important contribution Professor Corrado Feroci had in the field of art was that he organized the first national exhibition in 1949 to advance the artistic skills of Thai artists.
Displaying the artwork in the national exhibition has become a practice of Thai artists for 72 years until today. King Rama IX has been the main patron of the events. In addition, in 1962 he presented his painting at the opening ceremony of the 13th^a National Art Exhibition ^[3]. Her advocacy and participation in art exhibitions have represented her interest and talent. Besides painting, he has also experimented with other fields such as photography and music. In addition, his inventions are copyrighted internationally. His talent in all areas enabled him to be Thailand's most beloved king. To Thais, he was not only the king, but a kind of father, he was in fact called "royal father" or "father of the country." Exhibiting the arts at the Thai National Exhibition is one of the platforms where our artists express their skills and aesthetic experiences. In 1950, Misiem Yipintsoi was honored as the first outstanding artist by the National Art Exhibition^[4]. Misiem was an artist whose works were a combination of painting and sculpture inspired by the landscapes and people around her. Her success inspired subsequent women artists. Similarly, Chianapa Lapajarn was a sculptor who graduated from Silapakorn University. Her art depicted the inequality of women who in public seemed to have equal rights and opportunities, but in private were passive women who had no rights and could not make their voices heard. Her focus on women's rights is reflected in her sculptural and multimedia art called "SATEEPHOP" and exhibited at the National Museum of Art in 2020.                                                 
In 1989, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook represented Thai women as sex objects in her installation entitled "The Journey of Thai Women." These works came about during her time spent in Germany as a student. She was distressed by the general conception of men who thought that all Thai women were prostitutes. Their idea was not based on reality. Consequently, she suggested not generalizing and respecting women because everyone deserves respect as a human being. Traveling abroad makes artists gain different experiences, opportunities to emancipate their artistic idea and exchange their ideas with other artists. Sudsiri Pui-Ock's trip to the Netherlands to exhibit her work at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten represented the way in which she brought together the history and friendship between Thailand and the Netherlands that has existed for 417 years^[5]. This fact prompted her in 2005 to create a work entitled "The Dinner, My Blue: Drawing my life with the Blue on The White." In this work she painted the history of trade and travel in the 17th century between Thailand, China, and the Netherlands on white ceramic bowls, using Delfts Blauw. This technique represents how the three countries had been associated with each other in those days. In addition, Sudsiri used food as a means of expressing his collective background and the culture in which the community was connected.
The kindness of people is represented through food, which is not only the means to fill the stomach, but also a means to express one's love and compassion for others. He invited foreign teachers and friends to eat at his home. The Thai food she cooked was served on painted ceramic bowls, her works of art. She recorded the meal with friends and teachers and later used that record as her VDO performance art. In addition, cooking also represents femininity and motherhood, as seen in Pinaree Sanpitak's work called "Breast Stupa Cookery" created in 2005. Pinaree is an artist who has used the shape of the female breast for bowls, plates or cooking molds. Even the cooking mold she designed looks like a Buddhist stupa, the sacred and religious building of Buddhism. She then invited her friends who were housekeepers, bakers and artists to cook with her, using the utensils she designed. The idea found in "Breast Stupa Cookery" was also used in the work called "Breast Stupa Cookery: The World Turns Upside Down" exhibited at Contemporary Nova, Bangkok in 2020 and "House Calls" at 100 Tonson Foundation in 2021^[6].
The role of mother and wife is also represented in Isaree Baramee's work. The artist questioned the subordinate status and burdensome duties that women have to endure. She is of the opinion that taking care of a husband, working full time and being responsible for all the chores is only to please one's husband. "The turning perspective of an ideal family" is the theme of her semi-surreal sculptures that illustrate women's mix of forms and animals. Her work is satirical and has greatly shaken the audience's emotion. Lugpliw Junpudsa is a female artist who depicts various perspectives of motherhood through her semi-surreal sculptures called "After the Rain," made in 2006. They portray the love and bond between her and her mother. In 2014 in her solo exhibition entitled "Mother Value of the Adorable Person," she used the shape of the iliac bone as a symbol of motherhood and birth. In "The First House," a 2-meter-tall hip bone sculpture, there was a central space where the audience could enter, sit, sleep and interact. The purpose was to make the audience feel as if they were a baby in the womb. Similarly, in Lugpliw's "Mother's Beloved Boat," he also used the iliac bone as an element of the boat. In local belief, a boat is a symbol of hope. She used the boat metaphor to tell of her mother's hope for the good education and success of her children. In 2020, Lugpliw also represented women's perspectives on love and change through an exhibition titled "A Daughter's Love?" which featured 14 pieces. Many of her works depicted pregnancy and marriage and invite reflection on the role and status of women. As we will see in "Bride and Groom?", (Love? 1), (Love? 2), etc., (Love? 2). The role of mother and wife is also represented in the work of Isaree Baramee. She questioned the subordinate status and burdensome duties that some women have to endure. She is of the opinion that taking care of a husband, working full time is only to please the husband. She demonstrated her notion of women in her work called "The Turning Perspective of an Ideal Family" which were semi-surreal sculptures illustrating women's mix of forms and animals. Her work was satirical which had greatly shaken the public's emotion. From the details of the works and artists illustrated, we can see that Thai women artists often represent their arts in relation to the cultural and religious context in which they live. What they have done is simply to represent real facts or to question some existing phenomena. They hope that their works will cause the viewer to think and feel about it.

^[1] Suthee Kunawichayanon, Modern and Contemporary Thai Visual Art. (Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University, 2020),25.

^[2] Jittima Amornpichetkoon, 5 decades of the National Art Exhibition, (Bangkok: Amarin Print and Publishing, 2001), 21.

^[3] King Rama IX Foundation Art Museum, Art in the Reign of King Rama IX 6 decades of Thai art(Bangkok: Amarin Print and Publishing, 2010), 196.

^[4] Jittima Amornpichetkoon, 5 Decades of the National Exhibition of Art, (Bangkok: Amarin Print and Publishing, 2001), 25.

^[5] Relationship between Thai and the Netherlands, retrieved in 5th May 2021

^[6] Usawadee Srithong. "Thai Artists with Conceptual Concepts in Thailand." master's thesis, Silapakorn U"