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,...
A major reform package was enacted in Thailand in 1997, coinciding with the promulgation of a new constitution. However, the country's financial probl...
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...
Since January 2004, a violent separatist insurgency has raged in southern Thailand, resulting in more than three thousand deaths. Though largely un...
Prior to the 1997 economic crisis, for around 20 years Thai politics was characterized by a pluralistic political order, featuring unstable coalition governments, competing interests, and a gradual displacement of bureaucratic and military influence by the rising power of elected politicians (who in turn were closely linked to a range of business actors). A major reform package was enacted 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...
Prior to the 1997 economic crisis, for around 20 years Thai politics was characterized by a pluralistic political order, featuring unstable coalition ...