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Global Culture, Local Cultures, and the Internet 319

information and viewpoints about Thailand and its culture, and that
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English is to be the only medium of communication. But since most
Thais do not use English very well, the campaign to post in Thai
language is understandable. There also has been an attempt to
amend the SCT charter to make it officially acceptable to post in
Thai. The implication this debate has for the issue of the Internet as
a globalizing force is clear.
The ongoing debate in SCT on what language is to be used, to-
gether with the de facto existence of a significant portion of SCT posts
which are entirely in the Thai language, provide evidence that, in-
stead of looking at the Internet as a sign of the world becoming cul-
turally monolithic, we may have to look at it just as a global forum
where participants join one another so long as there is a felt need for
it. And when they feel more comfortable talking to someone back
home, so to speak, they feel no qualms in forming smaller groups
within the larger gathering, where they can forget the learned lingua
franca and enjoy talking in the vernacular. To assume that the Inter-
net would bring about a culturally monolithic world would mean that
it would bring about a set of shared assumptions and values, includ-
ing respect for human rights, individualism, egalitarianism—in other
words, the ideas of contemporary liberal democratic culture. But
since it is conceivable that those liberal ideals could exist within cul-
tures other than those of the West, to claim that the Internet would
bring about the same “thick” culture in Walzer’s sense would seem to
be mistaken. If the set of ideals is viewed instead as a part of the cos-
mopolitan culture, then it appears that the set will be adopted by a
local culture if it feels that it wants or needs to be a part of the global
community. And if members do not feel the need, then they will just
turn their back on it, in effect telling the world that they do not care
to join. Very often in those cases, the wish of the populace runs
counter to that of the political leaders; political oppression and prohi-
bition of freedom of expression result.
If the culture believed to be “exported” by the Internet is viewed
as a cosmopolitan one, and not the traditional Western culture, then
we are in a good position to assess the claim that the Internet is a
homogenizing cultural force. Since cosmopolitan culture is neutral
on most respects, the claim that the Internet will bring it about is
rather trivial. On the other hand, if traditional—or Walzer’s
“thick”—culture is at issue, then it seems the Internet fails to pro-
vide such a culture. But now the crucial question is: to which culture
do the salient aspects of modern liberal culture, namely respect for
human rights, democracy, egalitarianism, belong? Do they belong to