Mediative Communication in Family and Property Disputes: A Conceptual Synthesis in the Phuket Context

Abstract

This academic article analyzes the role of communication in mediation as a process that helps transform conflict into mutual understanding between disputing parties. It argues that successful mediation depends not only on legal knowledge or factual analysis but also on the quality of communication, active listening, dialogue structuring, and the creation of a safe communicative space in which parties can express their needs, emotions, and constraints constructively. Drawing on communication studies, interpersonal communication, conflict communication, interest-based negotiation, face-negotiation theory, procedural justice, and alternative dispute resolution, the article proposes that a mediator should be understood as a facilitator of communication who transforms the language of conflict into the language of understanding and collaborative problem-solving rather than as a decision-maker. The article also considers the Phuket context, with particular attention to family, inheritance, land, and property disputes, to illustrate the interplay among economic value, emotional attachment, and dignity. It proposes a conceptual framework of mediative communication consisting of dispute context, mediator communication processes, and outcomes such as mutual understanding, trust, voluntariness, and sustainable agreement.