Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit. A history of Thailand (2014)

Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit. A history of Thailand (2014)
Title:A history of Thailand. 3rd edition.
Author:Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit
Translator:
Editor:
Language:English
Series:
Place:Melbourne
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Year:2014
Pages:XX, 323
ISBN:9781107420212
File:PDF, 10.8 MB
Download:Click here
A History of Thailand offers a lively and accessible account of Thailand’s political, economic, social and cultural history, from the early settlements in the Chao Phraya basin to today. Now in its third edition, this book explores how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree peasants was transformed by colonialism, the expansion of the rice frontier and immigration of traders and labourers from southern China. It examines how the monarchy managed the foundation of a new nation-state at the turn of the 20th century. Baker and Phongpaichit capture the clashes between various groups – urban nationalists, ambitious generals, communist rebels and business politicians – in their attempts to take control of the nation-state in the 20th century. They track Thailand’s economic changes through the highs and lows of an economic boom, globalization 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.