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Hot off the press, this new book on Thailand’s recent political upheavals will shed light on the events of May 2010. Published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, it is edited by Michael J. Montesano, Pavin Chachavalpongpun and Aekapol Chongvilaivan.
I have no doubt it will be the subject of much discussion on New Mandala in the weeks and months ahead. For now, we can provide the table of contents. Many author names and topics will be familiar to regular New Mandala readers.
Table of contents
1. Introduction: Seeking Perspective on a Slow-Burn Civil War
Michael J. Montesano
2. The Culture of the Army
Nidhi Eoseewong
3. Thoughts on Thailand’s Turmoil
James Stent
4. Truth and Justice When Fear and Repression Remain
Tyrell Haberkorn
5. The Impact of the Red Shirt Rallies on the Thai Economy
Aekapol Chongvilaivan
6. The Socio-Economic Bases of the Red/Yellow Divide
Ammar Siamwalla and Somchai Jitsuchon
7. The Ineffable Rightness of Conspiracy: Thailand’s Democrat-ministered State and the Negation of Red Shirt Politics
Marc Askew
8. A New Politics of Desire and Disintegration in Thailand
Chairat Charoensin-o-larn
9. Notes Towards an Understanding of Thai Liberalism
Michael K. Connors
10. Thailand’s Classless Conflict
Shawn W. Crispin
11. The Grand Bargain: Making “Reconciliation” Mean Something
Federico Ferrara
12. Inequalities, Coercion, and Consent
David Fullbrook
13. Class, Inequality, and Politics
Kevin Hewison
14. Thailand’s Rocky Path towards a Full-Fledged Democracy
Kasit Piromya
15. The Color of Politics: Thailand’s Deep Crisis of Authority
Charles Keyes
16. Two Cheers for Rally Politics
Duncan McCargo
17. Thai Foreign Policy in Crisis: From Partner to Problem
Ann Marie Murphy
18. Thailand in Trouble: Revolt of the Downtrodden or Conflict among Elites?
Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker
19. From Red to Red: An Auto-ethnography of Economic and Political Transitions in a Northeastern Thai Village
Pattana Kitiarsa
20. The Rich, the Powerful and the Banana Man: The United States’ Position in the Thai Crisis
Pavin Chachavalpongpun
21. The Social Bases of Autocratic Rule in Thailand
Craig J. Reynolds
22. The Strategy of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship on “Double Standards”: A Grand Gesture to History, Justice, and Accountability
David Streckfuss
23. No Way forward but Back? Re-emergent Thai Falangism, Democracy, and the New “Red Shirt” Social Movement
Jim Taylor
24. Flying Blind
Danny Unger
25. The Political Economy of Thailand’s Middle-Income Peasants
Andrew Walker
26. Royal Succession and the Evolution of Thai Democracy
Andrew Walker
The popularity of often identifying democracy as the main victim of repression in Thailand is possibly an oversight.
The real victim in Thailand is self-determination of any kind, a much wider issue and why the bad guys seem to be winning at the moment. The May 2010 culmination of repressed anger and frustration happened to be Red shirt in on a wider aspect it was people, people, who have had enough and who want to be able to determine their own present and their own future. This is the problem. The Thai state will not allow this.
I’d like to see, among the reams of research, analysis of individual “leaders” of Thailand’s legal infrastructure, such as in the Law Reform Commission chaired by a 73 year-old loyal fundamentalist/traditionalist, and the links between them and projected outcomes of various social issues. It seems helpful to identify personalities that are part of the culture that is more widely observable. Of course, once you begin naming Thais by name, then you are subject to criminal defamation accusations.
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It looks good. People from both sides have contributed to the book.
I simply have two questions.
1. Where/when will this book be available? Will it be banned in Thailand?
2. TOC is a good start but it would be great if you could provide page number too so that you know exactly how much each authors has contributed to the book and whether their contribution is balanced. (See criticism in recent NM discussion about borrowing good names to increase the credibility of a book here http://www.newmandala.org/2012/01/13/reviewing-king-bhumibols-life/ )
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Thanks bookworm,
The book is literally hot off the press; straight out “of the oven” as one of the editor’s said. I don’t even think it is available on Amazon yet. When we get more details from Mike or Pavin we will be sure to post them here. They may also be able to advise on its availability in Thailand, and elsewhere.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
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Dear Nich
Thanks for this.
The book is currently available at ISEAS–you can order through its website.
ISEAS has worked with Silkworm Books in Thailand, and Silkworm will publish the book for sale in Thailand alone (but without accompanying photos to reduce the cost of the book–so it will be more affordable for Thai readers).
I will be able to tell you more later when this book will be available in Thailand.
Pavin
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> “Many author names and topics will be familiar to regular New Mandala readers.”
Some big names there. They seem to get bigger with every chapter although there are a few I’m not familiar with. I hope (well I sincerely doubt) those belonging to this collaborative effort don’t get cast off as “freelancers and stringers”.
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From Siam Paragon (AsiaBooks) with Love. – “Sorry Sir, our system does not have any information about the book itself or whether we will sell it in the future. But I just check Amazon and it says the book was released on 15th of January already.” … Ok, bought the Khunying & Co on Sufficiency Economy pamphlet instead and will learn it by heart. *sigh*
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I look forward to reading this book.
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