Pasuk Phongpaichit

Chris Baker

Christopher John Baker

"The authors cover the contests between urban nationalists, ambitious generals, communist rebels, business politicians, and social movements to control the nation-state and redefine its purpose. They describe the dramatic changes wrought by a booming economy, globalization, and the evolution of mass society. Finally, they show how Thailand's path is still being contested by those who believe in change from above and those who fight for democracy and liberal values."--BOOK JACKET.

A History of Thailand

เศรษฐกิจการเมืองไทยสมัยกรุงเทพฯ

Thaksin

He made a fortune of two bilion US dollars in four years. He won four elections by landslides. He was overthrown by a coup and driven into exile. His opponents and supporters dressed themselves in red and yellow and fought battles on the streets. To some, he is a visionary, even a revolutionary. To others, he is greedy, deceitful, deluded, dangerous. This book was first published in 2004. Four new chapters provide a detailed account of the turmoil of Thai politics over the subsequent five years.

(Second Edition, Expanded)

Extreme inequalities in income,wealth and power lie behind Thailand’s political turmoil. What are the sources of this inequality? Why does it persist, or even increase when the economy grows? How can it be addressed? The contributors to this important study—Thai scholars, reformers and civil servants—shed light on the many dimensions of inequality in Thailand, looking beyond simple income measures to consider land ownership, education, finance, business structures and politics. The contributors propose a series of reforms in taxation, spending and institutional reform that can address growing inequality. Inequality is among the biggest threats to social stability in Southeast Asia, and this close study of a key Southeast Asian country will be relevant to regional policy-makers, economists and business decision-makers, as well as students of oligarchy and inequality more generally.

Aspects of Income, Wealth and Power

Unequal Thailand

Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen

Kosuke Mizuno

Across Asia, "populist" leaders emerged on an unprecedented scale around the start of the 21st century. Populism in Asia is the first book to examine this phenomenon. The 1997 Asian financial crisis undermined established political leaders and stirred popular discontent. Voters in East Asia responded by electing maverick politicians who promised to target corruption and establish fresh agendas. In Southeast Asia, populist leaders based their appeal on the frustrations and aspirations of groups excluded from political power. Leaders who came to office during this period include Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand, Joseph 'Erap' Estrada in the Philippines, Roo Moo-hyun in South Korea, Chen Shui-bian in Taiwan and Jun'ichiro Koizumi in Japan. Local politicians in Indonesia likewise adopted a populist stance, as did Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia. In the present volume, leading Asian scholars consider the many faces of contemporary populism in the region, analyzing the phenomenon through case studies of political leaders with populist credentials and using these accounts to evaluate the achievements and failings of democracy. Benedict Anderson provides a reflective afterword. Despite its allure, populism has not been a success in Asia. Populist leaders are in retreat across the region and their fall can be spectacular, as in the Philippines and Thailand. However, the editors of this collection argue that populism will recur because Asia's oligarchic political systems do not fulfill the imagined role of the state as a provider of well-being, citizenship rights and equality.

Populism in Asia

Muangsing Janchai

The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen: Siam's Great Folk Epic of Love and War

The second edition of this book draws on new Thai-language research and brings the Thai story up to date.

Siam's folk epic of love, war, and tragedy The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaenis one of the most famous works of old Thai literature. The plot is a love story, set against a background of war, and ending in high tragedy. This folk epic was first developed in oral form for popular performance with lashings of romance, adventure, violence, farce, and magic. It was later adopted by the Siamese court and written down, with two kings contributing. This first-ever translation is based on Prince Damrong's standard edition of 1917-18, with over a hundred passages recovered from earlier versions. The English translation is written in lively prose, completely annotated, with over four hundred original line drawings and an afterword explaining the work's historical background, social context, and poetic style. The main volume presents the entire poem in translation. The companion volume contains alternative chapters and extensions, Prince Damrong's prefaces, and reference lists of Thai terms. The volumes are available separately or as a slipcased set. According to the leading Thai linguist William Gedney, "If all other information on traditional Thai culture were to be lost, the whole complex could be reconstructed from this marvelous text." Chris Bakerformerly taught Asian history at Cambridge University and has lived in Thailand for over thirty years.Pasuk Phongpaichitis professor of economics at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Together they have written several books includingThailand: Economy and Politics, A History of Thailand,andThaksin. The illustrator,Muangsing Janchai, is trained in Thai painting and has executed mural paintings in several temples. He is a native of Suphanburi, Thailand.

The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen

Early European visitors placed Ayutthaya alongside China and India as the great powers of Asia. Yet in 1767 the city was destroyed and its history has been neglected. This book is the first study of Ayutthaya from its emergence in the thirteenth century until its fall. It offers a wide-ranging view of social, political, and cultural history with focus on commerce, kingship, Buddhism, and war. By drawing on a wide range of sources including chronicles, accounts by Europeans, Chinese, Persians, and Japanese, law, literature, art, landscape, and language, the book presents early Siam as a 'commercial' society, not the peasant society usually assumed. Baker and Phongpaichit attribute the fall of the city not to internal conflict or dynastic decline but failure to manage the social and political consequences of prosperity. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the history of Southeast Asia and the early modern world.

Pasuk Phongpaichit

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