A Plastic Nation examines the role of Thai nationhood in domestic and international politics. This book is intended for students and professors in the field of Thai nationhood and nationalism, as well as contemporary Thai-Burmese relations. It is also intended for policy practitioners in the government and military.

This book is a product of the Expert Round table Discussion on the topic 'The Road to Ratification and Implementation of the ASEAN Charter', jointly organized by the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and the Habibie Centre, on 17 July 2008 in Jakarta. The objective of the discussion was to illuminate the provisions of the ASEAN Charter and its strengths and weaknesses. Despite its evident merits, the signing of the ASEAN Charter has brought to prominence the sharp differences that have divided partisans and critics of ASEAN, as reflected by...

This volume is the result of a workshop that had the objective to ascertain the facts of ASEAN-U.S. relations and the specific matter of the United States' engagement with ASEAN and East Asia, for possible use by ASEAN in the discussions at the next ASEAN-U.S. Summit Meeting and other ASEAN-U.S. policy forums. The book covers several elements of this relationship, ranging from U.S. military presence in the region, cooperation on maritime security, and recent U.S. policy towards Myanmar, to progress on technical cooperation.

After a two-month stand-off between Red Shirt protestors and the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, violence and arson scarred central Bangkok in mid-May 2010. This shocking turn of events underlined how poorly understood the deep divisions in the society and politics of Thailand remained, even five years into the country's prolonged crisis. This volume collects analysis and commentary on those divisions from an unusually large and prominent group of Thai and foreign scholars and observers of the country. Contributions examine socio-economic, political, diplomatic, historical,...

ASEAN has an abiding interest in peace and stability in this region and in freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea. Much of ASEAN's commerce, including its members' traded food and energy resources, passes through or over the South China Sea. The stakes for ASEAN and its members in the South China Sea are very high.

This book examines two aspects of the abbreviated reign of King Ananda Mahidol (1935-1946), or King Rama VIII, of the current Chakri dynasty of Thailand. First, it discusses the royal family’s plot to thwart a romantic relationship between the young king, Ananda, and his Swiss girlfriend, Marileine Ferrari, a daughter of a famous pastor of Lausanne, Switzerland. Interracial marriage, particularly with Westerners, has been strictly forbidden for Thai kings or heirs apparent. The restriction stems from the interwoven connection between sexual relationship and the security of the throne. The...