Sociolinguistics has been demonstrating how language variation allows speakers to take interactional stances and constructing their various identities through personas. (Eckert, 2008; Ochs, 1992). Focusing on Prairie, a Thai influencer with a magnetic personality transitioning from a Buddhist monk to a well-known LGBTQ+ influencer, this study investigates stancetaking via their use of first-person pronouns, a complicated system with high potential for indexicality in Thai.

The data were drawn from Prairie’s speeches in their Facebook live videos in 2022. Informed by Ochs (1992), the analysis reveals different patterns of first-person pronoun usage in performing various personas at different times. Prairie consistently used the masculine pronoun ‘phom’ after recently leaving monkhood. In their later Facebook lives, as their gender transition became more visible, the epicene pronoun ‘chan’ became highly dominant over the masculine one. Prairie then switched clearly to the feminine pronoun ‘dichan’ when revealing their LGBTQ+ identity. Their use of first-person pronouns when performing a product-selling persona demonstrated diverse stancetaking. In promoting their products, ‘attama,’ the pronoun for monks, was used at times to take a playful stance after Prairie recently left monkhood. ‘Dichan’ was particularly important in taking an assertive stance, while another (arguably) feminine pronoun ‘nu’ indexed cuteness and humbleness. Both pronouns are significant in taking various interactional stances and indexing their LGBTQ+ identity. We argue that first-person pronouns in Thai are an essential part of Prairie's persona type and gender identity construction.

The study aligns significantly with previous research on the fluidity of linguistic variables. It also illustrates how social meanings are conveyed intersectionally, revealing the potential for various interpretations of a linguistic variable when performing different social identities.

Keywords: pronouns, Thai, stance, persona, gender