Author : Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand
Publisher : Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 48,72 MB
Release : 2007
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN :
This illustrated volume provides an up-to-date account of the world's longest reigning living monarch as seen through the eyes of the international media.
Author : Paul M. Handley
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 512 pages
File Size : 48,94 MB
Release : 2006-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0300130597
Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, the only king ever born in the United States, came to the throne of his country in 1946 and is now the world's longest-serving monarch. This book tells the unexpected story of his life and 60-year rule: how a Western-raised boy came to be seen by his people as a living Buddha; and how a king widely seen as beneficent and apolitical could in fact be so deeply political, autocratic, and even brutal. Paul Handley provides an extensively researched, factual account of the king's youth and personal development, ascent to the throne, skilful political maneuverings, and attempt to shape Thailand as a Buddhist kingdom. Blasting apart the widely accepted image of the king as egalitarian and virtuous, Handley convincingly portrays an anti-democratic monarch who, together with allies in big business and the corrupt Thai military, has protected a centuries-old, barely-modified feudal dynasty. When at nineteen Bhumibol assumed the throne after the still-unsolved shooting of his brother, the Thai monarchy had been stripped of power and prestige. Over the ensuing decades, Bhumibol became the paramount political actor in the kingdom, crushing critics while attaining high status among his people. The book details this process and depicts Thailand's unique constitutional monarch in the full light of the facts.
Author : Antonio Rappa
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 50,40 MB
Release : 2017-04-21
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1315411326
The making of modern Thailand is grounded in specific political institutions, Brahmanical tropes, and sacred Buddhist traditions stylized with Hindu rituals. Over and above these mysterious practices and ancient customs, modern Thailand is a product of the late Great Rama IX Bhumibol Adulyadej. Most Thai people have only known one King. Born in Europe and educated during World War II, Bhumibol was the son of a Harvard medical doctor who had a penchant for jazz music and fast cars. When he returned to Thailand in 1951 to assume his royal duties, he could hardly speak Thai but his French and German were remarkable. Bhumibol had inherited an impoverished country with nothing but a symbolic role as a figurehead monarch. He was surrounded by envious courtiers and royals from other families now sidelined by the rise of the Chakri. Scheming generals and authoritarian field marshals were emptying the Kingdom’s coffers. Using guile and wit, Bhumibol had turned the tide by 1973. He became the most powerful modern warlord in the history of the Kingdom. He survived attempted murder, crafty politicians, corrupt generals, sycophantic courtiers and impoverished masses. When he died on October 13 2016, Bhumibol was already the longest standing monarch in the world. King Bhumibol was deeply respected and well-liked by farang and locals alike. Despite his massive social and economic achievements many problems continue to plague the Kingdom. These are prostitution, human rights issues, pollution, corruption, cronyism in Chinese businesses, border conflicts with Cambodia, and the refugee problem. This book examines the role of Rama IX and the variegated set of problems that persist in life under the great white elephant and mango trees. Rappa draws from his primary research that includes interviews, surveys and first-hand observations of a remarkable kingdom and a uniquely remarkable king to reveal the internal security threats to democracy and civil society in the oldest Southeast Asian kingdom in late modernity.
Author : Nicholas Grossman
Publisher : Editions Didier Millet
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 22,71 MB
Release : 2011
Category : Thailand
ISBN : 9814260568
Author : Christopher John Baker
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 17,3 MB
Release : 2014-05-30
Category : History
ISBN : 1107420210
A History of Thailand offers a lively and accessible account of Thailand's political, economic, social and cultural history. This book explores how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree peasants was transformed and examines how the monarchy managed the foundation of a new nation-state at the turn of the twentieth century. The authors capture the clashes between various groups in their attempts to take control of the nation-state in the twentieth century. They track Thailand's economic changes through an economic boom, globalisation and the evolution of mass society. This edition sheds light on Thailand's recent political, social and economic developments, covering the coup of 2006, the violent street politics of May 2010, and the landmark election of 2011 and its aftermath. It shows how in Thailand today, the monarchy, the military, business and new mass movements are players in a complex conflict over the nature and future of the country's democracy.
Author : Andrew MacGregor Marshall
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 28,72 MB
Release : 2015-11-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1783607807
'Perhaps the best introduction yet to the roots of Thailand's present political impasse. A brilliant book.' Simon Long, The Economist Struggling to emerge from a despotic past, and convulsed by an intractable conflict that will determine its future, Thailand stands at a defining moment in its history. Scores have been killed on the streets of Bangkok. Freedom of speech is routinely denied. Democracy appears increasingly distant. And many Thais fear that the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is expected to unleash even greater instability. Yet in spite of the impact of the crisis, and the extraordinary importance of the royal succession, they have never been comprehensively analysed – until now. Breaking Thailand's draconian lèse majesté law, Andrew MacGregor Marshall is one of the only journalists covering contemporary Thailand to tell the whole story. Marshall provides a comprehensive explanation that for the first time makes sense of the crisis, revealing the unacknowledged succession conflict that has become entangled with the struggle for democracy in Thailand.
Author : Andrew Harding
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 49,10 MB
Release : 2011-04-28
Category : Law
ISBN : 1847316522
This book assesses the attempt to establish a modern system of democratic government in Thailand against the background of Thai politics and culture. The fact that since 1932, when it became a constitutional monarchy, Thailand has had 18 constitutions speaks of an unstable political system which has seen rapid and repeated fluctuations between military rule and elected government. The main focus of this study is a critical discussion of the institutional frameworks which have been established under recent constitutions. Individual chapters deal with: Thai history and context, including the role of the monarchy and the military, and of constitutional drafting processes; parliament and elections; the executive branch of government, including the role of ministers, the civil service, of a contracting state and of anti-corruption initiatives; the structure and challenges of local government, including discussion of the southern insurgency; the Constitutional Court and constitutional enforcement; the constitutional role of administrative law and of the administrative courts; the constitutional protection of human rights, with freedom of speech as a particular case study.
Author : Walter F. Vella
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 391 pages
File Size : 12,32 MB
Release : 2019-03-31
Category : History
ISBN : 0824880307
Throughout his fifteen-year reign (1910-1925), King Vajiravudh, absolute monarch of Siam, attempted to foster a spirit of nationalism among the Thai, to unite the Thai people and make them proud of their land and their heritage. He hoped to save his country from expanding Western imperialism by infusing his people with the Western ideology of loyalty to the state. This book documents all the many forms the King's nationalistic efforts assumed, ranging from the establishment of a para-military patriotic organization called the Wild Tiger Corps to the encouragement of the team sports and the coining of a new cheer, Chaiyo! ("Victory!"). Vajiravudh was a prolific writer, and his hortatory articles, plays, poems, and speeches are analyzed in terms of the King's message to his people to be Thai, to act Thai, and to think Thai. Chaiyo! adds greatly to an understanding of the emergence of modern Thailand. It is also an important addition to studies of the impact of the West and the emergence of nationalism in Asia as a whole during the period of World War I. The findings will be of value not only to historians but also to political scientists and, indeed, to all those interested in the development of Asia or in the growth of nationalism anywhere in the world.
Author : Gayle C. Avery
Publisher :
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 31,14 MB
Release : 2016-06
Category : Sustainable development
ISBN : 9781760292638
The first systematic account of the powerful decision-making framework which is being applied across all areas of life in Thailand to build a fair, resilient and sustainable economy and society.
Author : Samson Lim
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 49,45 MB
Release : 2016-02-29
Category : History
ISBN : 0824855280
Visual evidence is the sine qua non of the modern criminal process—from photographs and video to fingerprints and maps. Siam's New Detectives offers an analytical history of these visual tools as employed by the Thai police when investigating crime. Covering the period between the late nineteenth century and the end of the Cold War, the book provides both an extended overview of the development and evolution of modern police practices in Thailand, and a window into the role of the Thai police within a larger cultural system of knowledge production about crime, violence, and history. Based on a diverse set of primary sources—police reports, detective training manuals, trial records, newspaper stories, memoirs, archival documents, and hard-to-find crime fiction—the book makes two related arguments. First, the factuality of the visual evidence used in the criminal justice system stems as much from formal conventions—proper lighting in a crime scene photo, standardized markings on maps—as from the reality of what is being represented. Second, some images, once created, function as tools, helping the police produce truths about the criminal past. This generative power makes images such as crime scene maps useful as investigative aids but also means that scholars cannot analyze them simply in terms of mimetic accuracy or interpret them in isolation for deeper meaning. Understanding how modern legal systems operate requires an examination of the visual culture of the law, particularly the aesthetic rules that govern the generation and use of documentary evidence. By examining modern policing in terms of visual culture, Siam's New Detectives makes important methodological contributions. The book shows how a historical analysis of form can supplement the way many scholars have traditionally approached visual sources, as symbols requiring a close reading. By acknowledging the productive nature of images in addition to their symbolic functions, the book makes clear that policing is fundamentally an interactive, creative endeavor as much as a disciplinary one.
