The Lost Territories

The Lost Territories PDF Author: Shane Strate
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824854373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
It is a cherished belief among Thai people that their country was never colonized. Yet politicians, scholars, and other media figures chronically inveigh against Western colonialism and the imperialist theft of Thai territory. Thai historians insist that the country adapted to the Western-dominated world order more successfully than other Southeast Asian kingdoms and celebrate their proud history of independence. But many Thai leaders view the West as a threat and portray Thailand as a victim. Clearly Thailand's relationship with the West is ambivalent. The Lost Territories explores this conundrum by examining two important and contrasting strands of Thai historiography: the well-known Royal-Nationalist ideology, which celebrates Thailand's long history of uninterrupted independence; and what the author terms "National Humiliation discourse," its mirror image. Shane Strate examines the origins and consequences of National Humiliation discourse, showing how the modern Thai state has used the idea of national humiliation to sponsor a form of anti-Western nationalism. Unlike triumphalist Royal-Nationalist narratives, National Humiliation history depicts Thailand as a victim of Western imperialist bullying. Focusing on key themes such as extraterritoriality, trade imbalances, and territorial loss, National Humiliation history maintains that the West impeded Thailand's development even while professing its support and cooperation. Although the state remains the hero in this narrative, it is a tragic heroism defined by suffering and foreign oppression. Through his insightful analysis of state and media sources, Strate demonstrates how Thai politicians have deployed National Humiliation imagery in support of ethnic chauvinism and military expansion. He shows how the discourse became the ideological foundation of Thailand's irredentist strategy, the state's anti-Catholic campaign, and its acceptance of pan-Asianism during World War II; and how the "state as victim" narrative has been used by politicians to redefine Thai identity and elevate the military into the role of national savior. The Lost Territories will be of particular interest to historians and political scientists for the light it sheds on many episodes of Thai foreign policy, including the contemporary dispute over Preah Vihear. The book's analysis of the manipulation of historical memory will interest academics exploring similar phenomena worldwide.

The Interpreter's Journal

The Interpreter's Journal PDF Author: Benjawan Poomsan Becker
Publisher: Paiboon Pub.
ISBN: 9781887521994
Category : Thai Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Benjawan finally reveals the story of her experience as a professional Thai and Lao interpreter, graphically showing how she works in legal settings including courtrooms and jails. She demystifies the conflicts that many Thai-Western couples face after moving to the US. Find out what happens when individuals who don t speak the language end up in criminal, civil and family courts. But this story is also a personal one, relating the author s journey from humble beginnings in rural Thailand to become a professional interpreter in the San Francisco Bay area. More and more in this interconnected world, the need to communicate across language barriers is becoming essential. Miscommunication can lead to serious conflict between groups or countries; taking the wrong medicine can cause serious medical complications; the wrong word spoken by a traveler can lead to a foreign jail. Entertaining, engaging, written in a down-to-earth style, this book is filled with anecdotes and true stories. It

The Lost Territories

The Lost Territories PDF Author: Shane Strate
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824854373
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Get Book Here

Book Description
It is a cherished belief among Thai people that their country was never colonized. Yet politicians, scholars, and other media figures chronically inveigh against Western colonialism and the imperialist theft of Thai territory. Thai historians insist that the country adapted to the Western-dominated world order more successfully than other Southeast Asian kingdoms and celebrate their proud history of independence. But many Thai leaders view the West as a threat and portray Thailand as a victim. Clearly Thailand's relationship with the West is ambivalent. The Lost Territories explores this conundrum by examining two important and contrasting strands of Thai historiography: the well-known Royal-Nationalist ideology, which celebrates Thailand's long history of uninterrupted independence; and what the author terms "National Humiliation discourse," its mirror image. Shane Strate examines the origins and consequences of National Humiliation discourse, showing how the modern Thai state has used the idea of national humiliation to sponsor a form of anti-Western nationalism. Unlike triumphalist Royal-Nationalist narratives, National Humiliation history depicts Thailand as a victim of Western imperialist bullying. Focusing on key themes such as extraterritoriality, trade imbalances, and territorial loss, National Humiliation history maintains that the West impeded Thailand's development even while professing its support and cooperation. Although the state remains the hero in this narrative, it is a tragic heroism defined by suffering and foreign oppression. Through his insightful analysis of state and media sources, Strate demonstrates how Thai politicians have deployed National Humiliation imagery in support of ethnic chauvinism and military expansion. He shows how the discourse became the ideological foundation of Thailand's irredentist strategy, the state's anti-Catholic campaign, and its acceptance of pan-Asianism during World War II; and how the "state as victim" narrative has been used by politicians to redefine Thai identity and elevate the military into the role of national savior. The Lost Territories will be of particular interest to historians and political scientists for the light it sheds on many episodes of Thai foreign policy, including the contemporary dispute over Preah Vihear. The book's analysis of the manipulation of historical memory will interest academics exploring similar phenomena worldwide.

Contemporary Socio-Cultural and Political Perspectives in Thailand

Contemporary Socio-Cultural and Political Perspectives in Thailand PDF Author: Pranee Liamputtong
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400772440
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
This volume examines contemporary Thailand. It captures aspects of Thai society that have changed dramatically over the past years and that have turned Thailand into a society that is different from what most people outside the country know and expect. The social transition of Thailand has been marked by economic growth, population restructuring, social and cultural development, political movements, and many reforms including the national health care system. The book covers the social, cultural, and economic changes as well as political situations. It discusses both historical contexts and emerging issues. It includes chapters on social and public health concerns, and on ethnicity, gender, sexuality and social class. Most chapters use information from empirical-based and historical research. They describe real life experiences of the contributors and Thai people who participated in the research.

Historical Dictionary of Thailand

Historical Dictionary of Thailand PDF Author: May Kyi Win
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810865327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
The second edition, which first provides an overview of the country in the introduction, traces the long and complicated history in the chronology and goes into much greater detail in the dictionary. Offering 64 new entries, as well as updates and revisions to older ones, the dictionary presents important persons, places, institutions, and more in an easily accessible resource. Significant recent events are discussed including the 1997-98 Thai economic crisis and its effects, reforms of the national government, and the growth in political roles of both businessman and other middle class members. In addition, the book updates basic information relative to population growth, urbanization, and industrialization of the economy. All this is topped off by a solid bibliography making this an essential reference tool.

Education in Thailand

Education in Thailand PDF Author: Gerald W. Fry
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811078572
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 790

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Book Description
This interdisciplinary book offers a critical analysis of Thai education and its evolution, providing diverse perspectives and theoretical frameworks. In the past five decades Thailand has seen impressive economic success and it is now a middle-income country that provides development assistance to poorer countries. However, educational and social development have lagged considerably behind itsglobally recognized economic success. This comprehensive book covers each level of education, such as higher and vocational/technical education, and such topics as internationalization, inequalities and disparities, alternative education, non-formal and informal education, multilingual education, educational policy and planning, and educational assessment. The 25 Thai and 8 international contributors to the volume include well-known academics and practitioners. Thai education involves numerous paradoxes, which are identified and explained. While Thailand has impressively expanded its educational system quantitatively with much massification, quality problems persist at all levels. As such, the final policy-oriented summary chapter suggests strategies to enable Thailand to escape “the middle income trap” and enhance the quality of its education to ensure its long-term developmental success.

Historical Dictionary of Thailand

Historical Dictionary of Thailand PDF Author: Gerald W. Fry
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 081087525X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 712

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Book Description
Throughout its history, Thailand has shown remarkable resiliency, adaptability, and creativity in responding to serious threats and crises, and this since much earlier times when it was known as Siam. This book, while focusing on the modern period, does reach back to ancient kingdoms but also shows the impressive rise to a modern democracy, although still endowed with a king, and even more impressively, an economic “tiger.” Moreover, it has become a prime tourist destination and is thus known to vast numbers of foreigners as a sort of “instant Asia.” The Historical Dictionary of Thailand, now in its third edition, covers this amazing story in various ways. First, the chronology traces the most significant events from year to year. The introduction then provides a good overview of the land and people, the history and traditions, and where it now seems to be heading. The dictionary, which by now has hundreds of detailed and cross-referenced entries, looks more closely at important persons, places, institutions and events as well as more generally its politics, economy, society, culture and religion. So this is an excellent reference work not only for scholars but many others who have visited the country and were fascinated by it.

Monastery, Monument, Museum

Monastery, Monument, Museum PDF Author: Maurizio Peleggi
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824866096
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Ranging across the longue durée of Thailand’s history, Monastery, Monument, Museum is an eminently readable and original contribution to the study of the kingdom’s art and culture. Eschewing issues of dating, style, and iconography, historian Maurizio Peleggi addresses distinct types of artifacts and artworks as both the products and vehicles of cultural memory. From the temples of Chiangmai to the Emerald Buddha, from the National Museum of Bangkok to the prehistoric culture of Northeast Thailand, and from the civic monuments of the 1930s to the political artworks of the late twentieth century, even well-known artworks and monuments reveal new meanings when approached from this perspective. Part I, “Sacred Geographies,” focuses on the premodern era, when religious credence informed the cultural alteration of landscape, and devotional sites and artifacts, including visual representation of the Buddhist cosmology, were created. Part II, “Antiquities, Museums, and National History,” covers the 1830s through the 1970s, when antiquarianism, and eventually archaeology, emerged and developed in the kingdom, partly the result of a shift in the elites’ worldview and partly a response to colonial and neocolonial projects of knowledge. Part III, “Discordant Mnemoscapes,” deals with civic monuments and artworks that anchor memory of twentieth-century political events and provide stages for both their commemoration and counter-commemoration by evoking the country’s embattled political present. Monastery, Monument, Museum shows us how cultural memory represents a kind of palimpsest, the result of multiple inscriptions, reworkings, and manipulations over time. The book will be a rewarding read for historians, art historians, anthropologists, and Buddhism scholars working on Thailand and Southeast Asia generally, as well as for academic and general readers with an interest in memory and material culture.

Legalising Prostitution in Thailand

Legalising Prostitution in Thailand PDF Author: Jason Hung
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9819984483
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 89

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Book Description
This book problematises the socioeconomic and institutional construction of prostitution in Thai contexts, identifying the root causes that propel underprivileged, discriminated and deprived women and girls to enter the sex industry. The author considers Thailand’s tolerance of prostitution and sex trafficking, despite criminalising prostitution since 1960. In doing so, they explain how criminalising prostitution does not lower the odds of women and girls engaging in commercial sex, but rather, legally marginalises them from receiving the necessary social and healthcare support. The book highlights that neither can Thailand pragmatically practice a zero-tolerance stance against prostitution - primarily due to severe police corruption and its heavy reliance on the sex tourism economy to support the national economic growth - nor is Thailand willing to fully crack down on the domestic sex industry. Engaging in an evaluation of how legalising and decriminalising prostitution, along with continuing to implement policies and interventions that alleviate the root causes of prostitution, can help Thailand build a more inclusive society and less-prostitution-reliant economy in the long term, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the relationships between society, inequality, governance, criminality, and policy in Southeast Asian contexts. It is relevant to students and researchers in sociology, socio-criminology, public policy, government and Southeast Asian studies.

Military, Monarchy and Repression

Military, Monarchy and Repression PDF Author: Kevin Hewison
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315443309
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Thailand’s politics has been contentious in recent years. With a military coup in 2006 and another in 2014, the country has moved from being a promising electoral democracy to a military dictatorship. Electoral politics was embraced enthusiastically by some groups, including those in rural areas of the north and northeast, but came to be feared by groups variously identified as the old elite, royalists and the establishment. The transition to authoritarianism saw large and lengthy street protests and considerable violence. This book examines the background to and the sources of conflict and the turn to authoritarianism. It addresses: the return of the military to political centre stage; the monarchy’s pivotal role in opposing electoral democracy; the manner in which sections of civil society have rejected electoral politics; and the rise of powerful non-elected bodies such as the Constitutional Court.

Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand

Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Book Description
The journal of Medical Association of Thailand publishs original and review articles including case report that relate to the study or research on diseases, epidemiology, drug or vaccine that have the influence on clinical course, treatment and prevention of human illness