Starving for Humanity: Thai Youth’s Hunger Strike Resistance in the Buddhist Kingdom

This chapter examines hunger striking during the 2020–21 Thai youth democracy movement as a compelling form of “humanitarianism from below.” Moving beyond interpretations of hunger strikes as mere political protest, it foregrounds their underexplored humanitarian dimensions: embodied appeals to shared humanity and moral recognition. Developing a theoretical framework that links sacrifice, vulnerability, and ethical performance, the chapter argues that self-starvation operates as a powerful claim to humanity within Thailand’s Buddhist moral order and military royalist state. Focusing on prominent activists Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul as figures of humanitarianism, it demonstrates how their hunger strikes articulated distinct yet converging calls for “humanity,” drawing simultaneously on local Buddhist idioms and global human rights discourse. By strategically blending humanitarian and political claims, these activists reimagined dissent and advanced innovative ethical vocabularies of resistance in contemporary Thailand—at profound personal risk.