Chris Baker

Thaksin's populism

Abstract Thaksin Shinawatra was not a populist when he rose to power in 2001, but became so in intensifying stages over the next five years. His populism went beyond redistributive policies to include rhetorical rejection of Thailands political elite, and denigration of liberal democracy in favour of personalised authoritarianism. Fears provoked by this populism helped to mobilise the urban middle-class rejection of Thaksin which was background to the 2006 coup. Thaksins populism was a response to the demands and insecurities of the large informal mass created by an outward-orientated strategy of development. Thaksins populism resembles the neo-populism prevalent in Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s. Also like these regimes, Thaksin made no investment in mass organisation, and fell precipitately when subject to elite attack. In Latin America, this phase has been superseded by leaders with a more ideological message and greater investment in organisation.

Business Populism in Thailand

Abstract:Thailand’s politics have changed dramatically under Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party since 2001. The business-based party has gradually come to resemble the “neo-populist” regimes of Latin America. It appeals to the “disorganized” mass in the rural economy and urban informal sector by launching redistributive policies, distancing itself from old leaders, and simultaneously undermining democratic institutions and liberal values. The party’s stance is a reflection of Thailand’s political economy under globalization marked by externally dominated economy, embattled local capitalism, and large informal sector.

Thailand's Assembly of the Poor: Background, Drama, Reaction

In Thailand in the early 1990s, several new organizations appeared to represent rural demands. Their emergence reflected a relaxation of Cold War era repression, but also a transformation in the rural political economy which brought village and city closer together, and which created new groups and leaders with a rural base but with exposure to the urban economy and culture. In 1995, this movement split. Groups of more secure farmers joined lobby-style organizations which exploited opportunities opening up in parliamentary politics. Groups of less secure farmers networked together as the Assembly of the Poor under a strategy of mass agitation. The Assemblys campaigns took place not only in the village and on the street but in the public space created by the media and public debate. In 1997, the Assemblys 99-day protest in Bangkok won unprecedented concessions. Subsequently, the urban-biased Democrat Party government reversed these concessions, provoking a new debate on rural strategy. This article sets the Assembly in the debate on rural popular movements.

The 2014 Thai Coup and Some Roots of Authoritarianism

ABSTRACT Thailand is the only country currently ruled by a coup-installed military government. The 2014 coup aimed not only to abolish the influence of Thaksin Shinawatra but also to shift Thailand’s politics in an authoritarian direction. While the army authored the coup, the professional and official elite played a prominent role in engineering the coup and shaping political reforms. This article examines some historical antecedents of this authoritarian turn, first in the broad trends of Thailand’s modern political history, and second in the emergence and political evolution of the Bangkok middle class.

The political economy of the Thai crisis

Abstract This paper looks at the background to Thailands crisis of 1997 from the viewpoint of the local political economy. The policy regime which had managed stable growth before 1985 was destroyed by a coalition of newly empowered technocrats, new business groups, and the neoliberal World Bank/IMF. This coalition promoted financial liberalization, but had neither the ideological coherence nor the political power to manage the consequences. The neoliberal enthusiasm for free markets, especially in finance, is based on a naive view of political realities and of the relationship between politics and business.

Recalling local pasts : autonomous history in Southeast Asia

Maps and IllustrationsPrefaceIntroduction / Robert H. Taylor1. Leading Port Cities in the Eastern Martaban Bay in the Context of Autonomous History / Sunait Chutintaranond2. Pega in Politics and Trade, Ninth to Seventeenth Centuries / Tun Aung Chain3. Arakans Ascent during the Mrauk U Period / Jacques P. Leider4. Towards a History of Seventeenth-Century Phuket / Dhiravat na Pombejra5. A Seventeenth-Century Port City in Vietnam: Autonomous History in the Absence of a Single Centralized Kingdom / Nguyen Chi Thong6. Power Relations between the Orang Laut and the Malay Kingdoms of Melaka and Johor during the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries / Chuleeporn Virunha7. Afterword: Autonomys Meanings / Chris BakerGlossaryContributorsBibliographyIndex

Ayutthaya Rising: From Land or Sea?

Ayutthaya rose as a maritime power with involvement down the peninsula and in the China trade. Early Ayutthaya resembled coastal polities of the archipelago more than hinterland states of the mainland. Over the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Ayutthaya changed by absorbing people, political structures, and cultural practice from the north.

The Thai village economy in the past

Authors Preface to the TranslationTranslators NoteThe Thai Village Economy in the PastPreface1.From the Primordial Village Community to the Village under the SakdinaSystem 2.The Subsistence Village Economy under the Sakdina System, 1455-1855 3.From the Subsistence Village Economy to the Commercial Economy in theCentral Region, 1855-1932 4.The Persistence of the Subsistence Village Economy in the North, South, andIsan, 1855-19325.ConclusionNotesAppendix 1: Question Guide for Interviewing VillagersAppendix 2: Details of IntervieweesAfterword: Chatthip and the Thai Village

An internal history of the communist party of Thailand

Abstract This is a translation of a history of the Communist Party of Thailand, written by a leading party member in 1978. The Thai original was published for the first time in early 2003. The document begins with a background analysis of Thai society, then traces the partys history from the 1920s, and ends with the “lessons” learnt. The document is especially detailed on the partys adoption and adaptation of the Maoist strategy of rural armed struggle.