A History of Thailand - Softcover

Baker, Chris; Phongpaichit, Pasuk

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521016479 ISBN 13: 9780521016476

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2005

Synopsis

Covering the past three centuries of Thai history, this book reveals how a landscape of sparsely populated forest and jungle was transformed into villages and paddy fields, with a rural society of smallholder peasants and an urban society populated mainly by migrants from southern China. It demonstrates how throughout the twentieth century, Thailand has been drawn into the international system, the American camp in the Cold War, the economic gambit of rising Japan, and more recently, the forces of globalization. The authors also survey the country's transformation accompanying massive social evolution over recent decades. (Control of the nation state is still contested between forces with a patriarchal belief in change from above, and advocates of democracy and liberal values.)

About this title

Book Description:

This book covers the past three centuries of Thai history. Over this period, a landscape of sparsely populated forest and jungle was transformed into villages and paddy fields. An older order of mandarin nobles and unfree labor was replaced by a rural society of smallholder peasants and an urban society populated mainly by migrants from southern China. Through the twentieth century, Thailand has been drawn into the international system, the American camp in the Cold War, the economic ambit of rising Japan, and the forces of globalization.

About the Author:

Christopher Baker writes regularly in the Thai and Asian regional press. He is the co-author of Thailand: Economy and Politics, Thailand's Boom and Bust, Thailand's Crisis and Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0521016479
• ISBN 13: 9780521016476
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320