This lively, accessible book is the first new history of Thailand in English for two decades. Drawing on new Thai-language research, it ranges widely over political, economic, social, and cultural themes. Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit reveal how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree labour evolved into a rural society of smallholder peasants and an urban society populated mainly by migrants from Southern China. They trace how a Buddhist cosmography adapted to new ideas of time and space, and a traditional polity was transformed into a new nation-state under a strengthened monarchy. 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.
• The best short history of Thailand available • An introduction which unravels the region’s complexities for the student and general reader • Covering the last 30 years of Thailand's history as it has been increasingly drawn into the international system
Contents
1. Before Bangkok; 2. The old order in transition, 1760s to 1860s; 3. Reforms, 1850s to 1910s; 4. Peasants, merchants, and officials, 1870s to 1930s; 5. Nationalisms, 1910s to 1940s; 6. The American era and development, 1940s to 1960s; 7. Ideologies, 1940s to 1970s; 8. Globalization and mass society, 1970s onwards; 9. Politics, 1970s onwards; Tailpiece: the strong state and the well-being of the people.
Reviews
‘As the most conceptual study of thailand yet it reaches a new level of sophistication.‘ BBC History Magazine
‘Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit cover this ground with secure jusgement and great insight.‘ Times Literary Supplement
‘In A History of Thailand, Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, two respected Bangkok-based scholars, offer a lively, highly readable account of modern Thai history, the first such history in English for two decades.‘ Financial Times
'[This book] is the first attempt in English to write a history of this country in the modern sense of 'history' … This book is essential reading for anyone seriously interest in Thailand: how it came about; its present strengths and weaknesses; and its potential in the future of a very unstable world.' Journal of the Siam Society
'… an engaging and factually rich introduction to the history of modern Thailand.' South East Asia Research
'This is the first new history of Thailand for two decades, written by a husband and wife team who have already written a number of books on contemporary Thailand. Their challenge was to marshal coherently a deal of complicated and unfamiliar material.' Asian Affairs
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