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Book The Thaksinization of Thailand

Download or read book The Thaksinization of Thailand written by Duncan McCargo and published by NIAS Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major reform package was enacted in Thailand in 1997, coinciding with the promulgation of a new constitution. However, the country's financial problems helped create the conditions for the emergence of the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai, or TRT) Party under the leadership of Thaksin Shinawatra, a wealthy telecommunications magnate. Since winning a landslide election victory in 2001, Prime Minister Thaksin has exercised an extraordinary degree of personal dominance over the Thai political scene. This book examines the emergence of the TRT; Thaksin's background; his business activities, relationship with the military, use of rhetoric, and wider political economy networks; and the future of Thai politics.

Book Reinventing Thailand

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pavin Chachavalpongpun
  • Publisher : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
  • Release : 2010
  • ISBN : 9814279196
  • Pages : 390 pages

Download or read book Reinventing Thailand written by Pavin Chachavalpongpun and published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This book was released on 2010 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 2001 to 2006, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra transformed Thailand's international role from one of obscurity into a kind of regional hegemon. Thaksin's diplomatic ambitions were reflected in his myriad of grandiose foreign policy initiatives, designed to locate Thailand at the forefront of regional politics and reinstall the Thai sphere of influence over weaker neighbouring states. He abolished the traditional bending-with-the-wind foreign policy, revamped the Thai Foreign Ministry, and empowered Thai envoys through the CEO Ambassadors programme. But in this process, Thaksin was accused of exploiting foreign policy to enrich his business empire. Thaksin's reinvention of Thailand as an up-and-coming regional power was therefore tainted by conflicts of interest and the absence of ethical principles in the country's foreign policy.

Book Thailand Unhinged

Download or read book Thailand Unhinged written by Federico Ferrara and published by Equinox Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Thailand Unhinged: Unraveling the Myth of a Thai-Style Democracy" offers a trenchant analysis of Thai politics and society over the tumultuous years that followed the ouster of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand's ongoing political crisis is explained through the prism of the country's painful post-absolutist history - a history marred by the systematic sabotage of any meaningful democratic development, the routine hijacking of democratic institutions, and the continued suffocation of the Thai people's democratic aspirations orchestrated by an unelected ruling class in an increasingly desperate attempt to hold on to its power. The book includes scathing critiques of both Thaksin's administration as well as the military-backed government that came to power in late 2008, following the week-long siege of the country's busiest airports staged by the "yellow shirts" of the People's Alliance for Democracy. The essays are written in a provocative, confrontational style - making "Thailand Unhinged" a decidedly unconventional mix of academic scholarship, literary journalism, and radical pamphleteering. About the Author FEDERICO FERRARA (PhD, Harvard University) works as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore. He will be joining the City University of Hong Kong's Department of Asian and International Studies in 2010.

Book Thai Politics in Translation

Download or read book Thai Politics in Translation written by Michael Kelly Connors and published by ASIA Insights. This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since Thailand's prolonged political crisis began with royalist mobilization against prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005, international observers have been treated to easy clichés about reactionary Thai elites. The chapters in this book invite readers to hold back quick judgement and instead engage with the conservative norms of sections of the middle class, the military, intellectuals and state ideologues. The opening chapter by the editors provides a historical overview of relevant themes and introduces the translated pieces. It also argues that the concept of a supra-constitution, first introduced by legal scholar Somchai Preechasilpakul in a brilliant lecture to the Pridi Banomyong Institute in 2007, is a powerful frame for interpreting conservative Thai politics. Somchai's lecture, now translated here, explains that an unwritten supra-constitution sits above the many failed constitutions that litter Thai history. Like a guiding spirit it contains evolving norms on military and monarchical power which circumscribe democratic political contest.

Book  Good Coup  Gone Bad

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pavin Chachavalpongpun
  • Publisher : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
  • Release : 2014-06-18
  • ISBN : 9814459607
  • Pages : 322 pages

Download or read book Good Coup Gone Bad written by Pavin Chachavalpongpun and published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This book was released on 2014-06-18 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What did the 2006 military coup show us? It demonstrated that the crux of the Thai crisis is far more serious and much wider in scope than had previously been thought. The monarchy is surely not a victim in the protracted conflict, but the root cause and continuing factor that has eroded Thai politics. The coup set in motion more prejudicial uses of the lèse-majesté law, and in the process, has led to more political prisoners. It has also shredded the military into several segments, turning generals into desperate royalists who continue to live off the monarchy in order to survive. Issues of violence in the Thai south and the Thai-Cambodian dispute became greatly intensified in the age of militarized politics. The coup also produced unique colour-coded politics and created crises of legitimacy. This book is a collection of essays that reflect developments in Thai politics in the post-coup period.

Book Thaksin

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pasuk Phongpaichit
  • Publisher : Silkworm Books
  • Release : 2009-08-01
  • ISBN : 1631024000
  • Pages : 224 pages

Download or read book Thaksin written by Pasuk Phongpaichit and published by Silkworm Books. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Book Fighting for Virtue

Download or read book Fighting for Virtue written by Duncan McCargo and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-01-15 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting for Virtue investigates how Thailand's judges were tasked by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) in 2006 with helping to solve the country's intractable political problems—and what happened next. Across the last decade of Rama IX's rule, Duncan McCargo examines the world of Thai judges: how they were recruited, trained, and promoted, and how they were socialized into a conservative world view that emphasized the proximity between the judiciary and the monarchy. McCargo delves into three pivotal freedom of expression cases that illuminate Thai legal and cultural understandings of sedition and treason, before examining the ways in which accusations of disloyalty made against controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra came to occupy a central place in the political life of a deeply polarized nation. The author navigates the highly contentious role of the Constitutional Court as a key player in overseeing and regulating Thailand's political order before concluding with reflections on the significance of the Bhumibol era of "judicialization" in Thailand. In the end, posits McCargo, under a new king, who appears far less reluctant to assert his own power and authority, the Thai courts may now assume somewhat less significance as a tool of the monarchical network.

Book Modern Thai Politics

Download or read book Modern Thai Politics written by Clark D. Neher and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 1976 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Tearing Apart the Land

Download or read book Tearing Apart the Land written by Duncan McCargo and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since January 2004, a violent separatist insurgency has raged in southern Thailand, resulting in more than three thousand deaths. Though largely unnoticed outside Southeast Asia, the rebellion in Pattani and neighboring provinces and the Thai government's harsh crackdown have resulted in a full-scale crisis. Tearing Apart the Land by Duncan McCargo, one of the world's leading scholars of contemporary Thai politics, is the first fieldwork-based book about this conflict. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the region, hundreds of interviews conducted during a year's research in the troubled area, and unpublished Thai-language sources that range from anonymous leaflets to confessions extracted by Thai security forces, McCargo locates the roots of the conflict in the context of the troubled power relations between Bangkok and the Muslim-majority "deep South."McCargo describes how Bangkok tried to establish legitimacy by co-opting local religious and political elites. This successful strategy was upset when Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister in 2001 and set out to reorganize power in the region. Before Thaksin was overthrown in a 2006 military coup, his repressive policies had exposed the precariousness of the Bangkok government's influence. A rejuvenated militant movement had emerged, invoking Islamic rhetoric to challenge the authority of local leaders obedient to Bangkok.For readers interested in contemporary Southeast Asia, insurgency and counterinsurgency, Islam, politics, and questions of political violence, Tearing Apart the Land is a powerful account of the changing nature of Islam on the Malay peninsula, the legitimacy of the central Thai government and the failures of its security policy, the composition of the militant movement, and the conflict's disastrous impact on daily life in the deep South. Carefully distinguishing the uprising in southern Thailand from other Muslim rebellions, McCargo suggests that the conflict can be ended only if a more participatory mode of governance is adopted in the region.

Book Thailand  History  Politics and the Rule of Law  2nd Edition

Download or read book Thailand History Politics and the Rule of Law 2nd Edition written by James Wise and published by Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. This book was released on 2024-02-01 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thailand’s 2023 election results energised some Thais and traumatised others. Voters and analysts alike were astonished that a youthful party aiming to transform the country won the most seats, though not a majority. The Move Forward party wanted to de-militarise society and politics, de-centralise government administration, de-monopolise the economy, and curb the ideological, political, and financial power of the monarchy. For decades, Thai politics had revolved around two big questions: Do you support the charismatic Thaksin Shinawatra and his populist Pheu Thai party? Do you support military supervision of politics? Thaksin and the military—once enemies—now had a common foe. Relying on military-appointed senators, they formed a coalition government that pushed Move Forward into the parliamentary opposition. Move Forward’s challenge is to broaden support for its progressive agenda before the next election. That’s a scary prospect for Thaksin and the military because, according to the current constitution, next time they won’t be able to rely on unelected senators to rescue them. The revised edition of this book describes the historical context of these momentous events and trends and shares insights into the social and cultural undercurrents that shape Thai politics. Informed by the latest research, it is an accessible introduction for the general reader, while also offering much to those who want to know more about Thailand’s political dynamics.

Book Future Forward

    Book Details:
  • Author : Duncan McCargo
  • Publisher : Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
  • Release : 2020
  • ISBN : 9788776942908
  • Pages : 0 pages

Download or read book Future Forward written by Duncan McCargo and published by Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Suddenly, Thai politics caught fire -- Future Forward deals with a remarkable phenomenon in Thailand's recent politics: the rise of a new party led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a wealthy, charismatic politician who upended conventional understandings of how elections work in the country. One year after Future Forward was founded, it became the third largest party in parliament. Another year on, it was summarily dissolved by the Constitutional Court. This is the first book to examine the most interesting new force to emerge in Thai politics for two decades, one also exploring the wider dynamics of political leadership, party formation and voter behaviour in a society where popular participation was largely suppressed after the 2014 militiary coup. Based on exclusive interviews with party leaders and a wide range of Thai-language sources, it examines how Future Forward succeeded in mobilising so much electoral support, whilst also arousing intense hostility from the conservative forces demanding its dissolution." --

Book After the Coup

    Book Details:
  • Author : Michael J Montesano
  • Publisher : ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
  • Release : 2019-01-07
  • ISBN : 9814818984
  • Pages : 474 pages

Download or read book After the Coup written by Michael J Montesano and published by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This book was released on 2019-01-07 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the Coup brings together the work of a group of leading Thai intellectuals of several generations to equip readers to anticipate and understand the developments that lie ahead for Thailand. Contributors offer findings and perspectives both on the disorienting period following the Thai coup of May 2014 and on fundamental challenges to the country and its institutions. Chapters address regionalism and decentralization, the monarchy and the military, the media, demography and the economy, the long-running violence in Southern Thailand, and a number of surprising social and political trends certain to shape the future of Thailand. The volume will serve as a valuable resource for all those concerned with that future. “This highly acclaimed collection of scholars’ answers to basic questions about the political situation after the 2014 military coup in Thailand offers a comprehensive analysis of many crucial institutions and sensitive issues that no other work has touched. The book covers the intricate relationships among conflicting classes, political movements, the military, and, above all, the monarchy. It puts on the table many important debates about the crisis of democratization in the country, including the struggle of Malay-Muslims in Southern Thailand, the transformation of electoral violence, the dilemma of political decentralization, the changing roles of the media, and the impact of slowing economic growth and an ageing society on the future of Thailand.” —Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, Chulalongkorn University, author of The Rise of the Octobrists in Contemporary Thailand “After the Coup should be read by anyone interested in understanding the current state of Thailand’s political affairs, tracing the historical origins of the current challenges and conflicts, or looking for clues about what may be to come. This outstanding set of scholars explores how Thailand’s disparate collective identities are at the root of the current political and social conflict. These collective identities carry with them different visions of what it means to be ‘Thai’, what democracy is and how it should function, and the sources of political legitimacy. The chapter authors describe how those behind Thailand’s ‘ambitious coup’ have attempted to crush, co-opt, quell, and contain these competing visions.” —Allen Hicken, University of Michigan, author of Building Party Systems in Developing Democracies “Featuring a collection of essays authored by many of the field’s leading lights, expertly curated and edited by one of the most knowledgeable scholars in Thai Studies, After the Coup is a vital contribution to the study of contemporary Thai politics. The depth and sophistication of its analysis, and the variety of viewpoints represented, make it a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the significance of the events set in motion by the military coup staged in Thailand on 22 May 2014, one in crucial respects quite unlike the series of coups d’état that punctuate the country’s modern political development.” —Federico Ferrara, City University of Hong Kong, author of The Political Development of Modern Thailand “This book covers many of the most important current aspects of the Thai political problem, to help readers better understand why Thailand continues in its struggle to democracy. For example, it provides for a very insightful sense of an emergent middle class that has been one of the main obstacles in Thai democratic progress, both before and since the military coup d’état of 2014.” —Titipol Phakdeewanich, Dean, Faculty of Political Science, Ubon Ratchathani University

Book Divided Over Thaksin

    Book Details:
  • Author : N. John Funston
  • Publisher : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
  • Release : 2009
  • ISBN : 9812309616
  • Pages : 226 pages

Download or read book Divided Over Thaksin written by N. John Funston and published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This book was released on 2009 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These 13 papers were selected from those given by senior analysts from Thailand and the region at the 2006 and 2007 seminars of the National Thai Studies Centre at the Australian National University. The Coup of 2006 and other turbulent events were more or less in progress during the seminars so some of the papers have the flavour of immediacy. Among the subjects addressed are: the Constitutions of 1997 and 2007 and their impacts; the policies, fall and possible future impact of Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister 2001-2006; four papers are on aspects of the ongoing insurgency in Southern Thailand; and the final three papers focus on the economy with discussion of the impact of political uncertainty on business. With much tabulated data and index.

Book Thailand Unhinged

    Book Details:
  • Author : Federico Ferrara
  • Publisher : Equinox Publishing
  • Release : 2011
  • ISBN : 9793780843
  • Pages : 183 pages

Download or read book Thailand Unhinged written by Federico Ferrara and published by Equinox Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thailand Unhinged: The Death of Thai-Style Democracy delivers an excoriating critique of Thai politics and society over the tumultuous years that followed the ouster of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand's ongoing political crisis is explained through the prism of the country's painful post-absolutist history - a history marred by the systematic sabotage of any meaningful democratic development, the routine hijacking of democratic institutions, and the continued suffocation of the Thai people's democratic aspirations orchestrated by an unelected ruling class in an increasingly desperate attempt to hold on to its power. This new edition, uncensored, expanded, and revised, argues that the tragic events of 2010 mark the end of "Thai-Style Democracy" - a five-decades-old system of government that, notwithstanding the appropriation of some of the trappings of democracy, has largely preserved the right of "good" men of high birth, status, and wealth to run the country. The essays are written in a pointed, combative style, making Thailand Unhinged a highly unconventional mix of academic scholarship, literary journalism, and radical pamphleteering. IN PRAISE OF THE FIRST EDITION Written by an extremely talented Harvard PhD journalist/professor, this well-crafted collection of essays illuminate s] magnificently the tragedy of Thailand today. Trenchant and continually blistering. -Tom Plate, author of the bestselling Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew FEDERICO FERRARA (PhD, Harvard University) works as Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, Department of Asian and International Studies.

Book Reforming Thai Politics

Download or read book Reforming Thai Politics written by Duncan McCargo and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1932, Thai politics has undergone numerous political "reforms, " often accompanied by constitutional revisions and shifts in the location of power. Following the events of May 1992, there were strong pressures from certain groups in Thai society for a fundamental overhaul of the political order, culminating in the drafting and promulgation of a new constitution in 1997. However, constitutional reform is only one small part of a wide range of possible reforms, including that of the electoral system, education, bureaucracy, health, welfare, the media, and the military. Reflecting on the twists and turns of reform in Thailand over the years, this volume is a "must have" for everyone interested in Thai politics and its impact on the wider Asian political scene.

Book Thaksin

Download or read book Thaksin written by Pasuk Phongpaichit and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thaksin made a fortune of two billion dollars in four years. He was elected prime minister of Thailand in 2001 by a landslide. He narrowly escaped convicition for corruption. He believes he can take Thailand into the first world in eight years by running the country like a company. To some, he is Thailand's best premier ever and a new leader for Asia. To others he is a threat to democracy, human rights, public morality, and the rule of law. This book is the first serious study of Thaksin in English. It examines where he comes from, how he made his money, what he is trying to do, and his impact on Thailand's economy, society, and democracy. Pasuk Phongpaichit is a professor of economics at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Chris Baker is an independent writer. Together they have also written Thailand: Economy and Politics, Thailand's Boom and Bust, and Thailand's Crisis.

Book Myths and Realities

    Book Details:
  • Author : Yoshifumi Tamada
  • Publisher : Trans Pacific Press
  • Release : 2009
  • ISBN : 9781920901417
  • Pages : 370 pages

Download or read book Myths and Realities written by Yoshifumi Tamada and published by Trans Pacific Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study - now in paperback - traces the root of Thailand's current political instability back to the 1990s. It challenges the prevailing view that the nation's democratization process, during the decade, was led by the active middle class. The book argues that the key role played by the middle class was moderation rather than promotion of democracy. The middle class achieved discursive power after the May 1992 incident and prevented the numerical majority of the population - rural residents and urban lower class people - from gaining the hegemony. With competing forces in Thai politics under the microscope, and with a particular focus on 'passive' political actors, Myths and Realities shows that the appeasement of the opponents of democratization is no less crucial than the emergence or empowerment of its proponents. The Japanese original of Myths and Realities won an Ohira Masayoshi Memorial Prize in 2003.