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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extensive knowledge of the region, hundreds of interviews conducted during a year's research in the troubled area, and unpublished Thai- language sources that range from anonymous leaflets to confessions extracted by Thai security forces, McCargo locates the roots of the conflict in the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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A book of it's kind...
This is an intensive and informative kind of book about Thailand and the United States alliance. There is probably no other book like this around that describes the background of Thailand and it's many coups and revolutions from 1947 to 1958, and it's involvment in all the Indochinese conflicts. And why the United States would support and ally with a corrupted and often brutal Thai army which at that time controlled the country and government. The book is really about Thailand at it's most, but it also tells Thailand's relationships with (besides USA), France, Britain, Laos, Cambodia, China, etc. Its a very useful and valuable book for those who wants to know about Thailand and the United States relationship from the very beginning, and how Thailand became as USA's most important ally at that time. A recommended history book. ... Read more

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Thailand Foreign Policy and Government Guide ... Read more

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Thailand Foreign Policy and Government Guide (World Oil, Gas and Mining Business Library) ... Read more

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The original edition of this book, published in 1995, was the firstfull-length of Thailand's modern economy and politics. This edition is a major revision, incorporating recent research, and bringing theaccount up to the start of the new millennium. The focus is on recentdecades, set in a deeper historical context of Siam in the Bangkokera. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

History at its finest!
While living in Thailand for most of the 1990's, I was determined to understand the history of that wondrous country.Unfortunately, at the time there was little written that provided more than the chronologies and "accomplishments" of the Thai monarchy.That was, until "Thailand: Economy and Politics" was published.

This wife and husband team - she (Pasuk Phongpaichit), an economics professor at Thailand's top university, and he (Chris Baker), a history major from Britain - has written the most enlightening history book I've ever read.Beginning with the peasants and the impact that the aristocracy had on their lives, this book looks at history from an economic rather than a time-line perspective.It may be academic in nature, with plenty of tables and references, but it is immensely readable.Rather than fixating on the "who, what and when" of traditional history books, the authors explain why and how events happened as they did.

More than just explaining the past, this book (stealthily) explains a lot about what made the Thai people the way they are.Why are Thais so deferential to authority?Why is petty corruption so endemic in the bureaucracy?How has the large Chinese minority so easily integrated with Thai culture, unlike in many of its neighbors?How was Thailand impacted by the war in Vietnam?How does the monarchy cohabitate with the military and political leadership?

For those unfamiliar with Thailand, this book provides a beautiful portrait of the making of a country.For those who have spent a bit of time in Thailand, it will provide many "Ahh, now I understand" moments.How can a history book be any better?

An excellent, readable review of Thai political hsitory
In the past, Thai history was written by noblemen and created an idyll ofa virtuous past, filled with happy peasants living a simple life under the watchful eye of benevolent despots. Unfortunately, many Westerners followedin this tradition, although they (and Thai nobles) criticized more recent,military regimes. This book breaks out of that box and makes it clear thatlife has never been easy for Thai peasants and that upper classes haverarely been all that virtuous. The authors also show a much more diverseThailand than the "homogeneity" that is popularly ascribed. Inaddition, they detail the corruption of recent decades that should makeAmericans (as well as Japanes and others) who abetted it ashamed of therole they've played in in supporting horrible regimes. An excellent volumethat is revisionist in the most positive sense of the word. ... Read more

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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. ... Read more

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Thailand’s hill tribes have been the object of anthropological research, cultural tourism, and government intervention for a century, in large part because these groups are held to have preserved distinctive ethnic traditions despite their contacts with "modern" culture. Hjorleifur Jonsson rejects the conventional notion that the worlds of traditional peoples are being transformed or undone by the forces of modernity. Among the Mien people of northern Thailand he finds a complex highlander identity that has been shaped by a thousand years of interaction in a multiethnic contact zone.

In Mien Relations, Jonsson suggests that as early as the thirteenth century, the growing influence of Chinese and Thai state authority had led to a peculiarly urban understanding of the hinterlands—the forests and the mountains—as an area beyond state control and the rhetoric of civilization. Mountain peoples became understood as a distinct social type, an idea elaborated by government classification systems in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Their "discovery" by Western anthropologists is, he suggests, merely one more episode influencing Mien identity.

Jonsson questions traditional ethnography’s focus on fieldwork and personal observation—and its concomitant blindness to political manipulation and to historical formation. Throughout Mien Relations, he revisits long-neglected connections between China and Southeast Asia, combines ancient history and contemporary ethnography, engages with the serious politics of representation without abandoning the quest to write ethnographically about particular communities, and keeps state control in view without assuming its success or coherence. ... Read more

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Thailand Diplomatic Handbook (World Business, Investment and Government Library) ... Read more

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Why do some middle-income countries diversify their economies but fail to upgrade - to produce world-class products based on local inputs and technological capacities? Why have the "little tigers" of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, continued to lag behind the Newly Industrializing Countries of East Asia? Richard Doner goes beyond "political will" by emphasizing institutional capacities and political pressures: Development challenges vary. Upgrading poses tough challenges that require robust institutional capacities. Such strengths are political in origin. They reflect pressures, such as security threats and resource constraints, which motivate political leaders to focus on efficiency more than clientelist payoffs. Such pressures help to explain the political institutions - "veto players" - through which leaders operate. Doner assesses this argument by analyzing Thai development historically, in three sectors (sugar, textiles, and autos) and in comparison with both weaker and stronger competitors (Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Brazil, and South Korea). ... Read more

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A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing separatist violence in its southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces. This book presents new issues directly connected to Thailand. ... Read more

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Fresh insight into Thailand's history over the 250 years, from the fall of the old capital Ayutthaya in 1767 in the opening scene, to today, with the country's massive economic expansion. ... Read more

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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 under the leadership of Thaksin Shinawatra, a fabulously wealthy telecommunications magnate often compared with Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. Although presenting itself as a nationalist, transformative party, at heart TRT is little more than a vehicle for the interests and ambitions of its founder-leader. Since winning a landslide election victory in January 2001, Prime Minister Thaksin has exercised an extraordinary degree of personal dominance over the Thai political scene.The emergence of Thaksin and TRT has transformed Thailand's electoral landscape, rendering previous analyses of Thai politics substantially outdated. This book examines Thaksin's background, his business activities, the emergence of Thai Rak Thai, his relationship with the military, Thaksin's use of rhetoric through media such as radio, his wider political economy networks, and the future direction of Thai politics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thaksin Shinawatra
Authors Ukrist Pathmanand and Duncan McCargo provide a perfectly
timed and well written book that concisely and directly presents the facts.The authors immediately note this isn't a political biography of Thaksin Shinawatra.There is a lot of information in this book about his background, businesses, and political life.

The "Thaksinization of Thailand" focuses on 5 elements:

1.Telecommunications business.
2.Thai Rak Thai political party.
3.Thaksin's use of language and media.
4.The re-politicization of the military.
5.Creation of the new political economy.

Telecom Business:

Many details are noted and sourced. Prominent, is the Shin Company, which earned enormous profits and attained major growth after the passing of the Telecommunications Services Act.This Act restricted foreign ownership to 25% which aided Shin, while simultaneously squeezing Shin's competitors.In the Thai telecom business and South East Asia in general, there is a "love-hate" relationship with foreign capital.Wanting to curtail it, despising it, while at the same time critically dependent upon it.Playing it both ways, is an old and contemporary form of split personalities, and old style
politics.

I'm curious that this book origins of Shinawatra's rise to power in the telecom business didn't include his biggest move: Thanksin's joint venture with American William L. Monson in the 1980s.Thaksin violated the agreement, stole Monson's equipment, had police raid his office, and arrest his manager and staff and file criminal charges (which were later dropped because they were a farce).Another trial date is set for September of 2006 relating to this.

TRT Party:

The Thai Rak Thai political party founded by Shinawatra successfully used (and still uses) a mass marketing approach now utilized in Thailand and other nation-states of the world.The roots of this approach and these methods are traced to U.S. and UK.

TRT is very adept at organization and became the main political party by not only isolating the main opposition party (Democrats) but by also co-opting (absorbing) other MPs from the Democratic party and the other lessor parties (e.g. Chart Thai, Chart Pattana, etc.).

The Use Of Language And The Media (and the party platform):

Utilization of language and media was and is a critical arm of the "political platform."Three of the major points of the TRT platform were: 1) A moratorium on farmers' debts2)A million Baht fund for every village and 3) 30 Baht Health Insurance plan.

The creation of the People's bank or "bank for the poor" offered
Business Development Loans allowed for low interest loans and
maximum 15,000 Baht borrowing limit.Solidifying this crucial base.

These were one of the many "actions" that Thaksin and his advisor Pansak partook to gain support.These actions were emphasized more than ideological "thinking."


2006 Tipping point:

The Tipping Point in 2006: the Shin stock sale to Temasek, via Ample Rich.

This dubious financial deal was the Tipping Point that led to his resignation in early April, of 2006.As a result of mass protests Thaksin dissolved Parliament and held a snap election because it was the most prudent political move he could make, and it was the best way save himself, as criminal charges were likely to be filed. The Shin deal was the breaking point.It highlighted the fact that many governmental policies gave special treatment and benefit to Shin since Shinawatra's ascension.A schism between the rural poor (primarily in the north) and residents of Bangkok over the "caretaker."

The "Thaksinization of Thailand" does a very good job in synopsizing the history of Thai politics up and through the rise of TRT and Thaskin up to 2005.A helpful book for those that want to know some of the basics of the Thai political system.

Although Thaksin is not officially at the helm, he's a force.
Hopefully those that succeed him can do what's best for the Thai
people and Thailand.Where is Thailand's economy headed with high consumer debts and competition from its neighbor to the east?

This is a great book that's a quick and has lots of current
information and a great bibliography.
... Read more

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This edited volume, including contributions from some of the leading scholars in the field, addresses the challenges, obstacles and opportunities for increased women's political representation in Thailand. Will Thai politics be different with an increase in the number of women politicians? What are the possibilities for Thai women to take proactive initiatives that aim to transform Thai politics into being more gender aware and equal? In seeking to address these and related issues, the analysis brings together a complex interplay of factors, such as traditional Thai views of gender and politics; the national and local political context of the new Thai constitution of 1997; and recent experiences of selected women politicians in the legislative and executive branches of Thai government. ... Read more