ABSTRACT
There has been a resurgence in 1990s' nostalgia in Thailand since 2001, epitomized by a huge comeback made by Mana-Manee in A Day Magazine. As one of the nation's foremost children's books between 1978 and 1995, the Mana-Manee series was used in compulsory education nationwide as an interdisciplinary approach to inculcate desirable attitudes, beliefs and behaviors in children and youth, and was often referred to as Tam Narn Dek Dee, or literally, the Legend of Good Children. A major step in the development of an official national character had already been taken a couple of years before the Mana-Manee series was introduced into the compulsory education system. The stories share a simple narrative structure, with obvious scenes depicting the push and pull of moral forces. If it is assumed that the content in the stories contains nothing harmful it is still important to examine the basis for predicting the consequences of the desirable/undesirable characteristics.
