Land and Loyalty: Security and the Development of Property Rights in Thailand

Acknowledgments

xi Acknowledgments In my work on this book and the research on which it is based I have been supported by teachers, colleagues, friends, and family. At Cornell University, I benefited from the tremendous intellectual generosity of Jonas Pontusson, Ronald Herring, Peter Katzenstein, Victor Nee, and Thak Chaloemtiarana. I was also fortunate to be able to learn about the making of states, nations, and markets in seminars led by Benedict Anderson, Richard Bensel, and Valerie Bunce. In Bangkok, where most of the research for this book was done, I especially thank Charles Mehl and Tongroj Onchan at the Mekong Environment and Resource Institute for all their help and advice. They, together with Orapan Nabangchang, Thippawal Srijantr, Eathipol Srisawaluck, and Anthony Zola, introduced me to the often mind-boggling intricacies of land tenure reform in Thailand. The National Research Council of Thailand facilitated my research at the National Archives,the Council of State,and the Department of Lands (DOL). At the DOL, I am particularly thankful for the help extended to me by Wanna Rakyao and Ratchanee Dungchim. The staff at the National Archives in Bangkok and London kindly and efficiently helped me locate many of the historical documents on which my argument rests. As a visiting research fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore I was provided with the time and a congenial environment which enabled me to work on the book manuscript. My employers at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, and St John’s College generously granted me leave so that I could spend a full year away from my teaching responsibilities. My argument has been sharpened thanks to questions and comments from participants in seminars and workshops at Cornell University, UC-Riverside, UC-Berkeley, Northern Illinois University, Oxford University, the University of Cambridge, and Växjö University. At various stages in the writing process, including some early drafts, my argument has benefited from the comments and criticisms of Patrik Aspers, David Biggs, the late Nigel Brailey, Richard Doner, Stephan Haggard, Derek Hall, Ian Harris, Staffan Lindberg, Tamara Loos, Michelle Tan, Emil Uddhammar, Peter Vandergeest, Andrew Walker, and James Warren. Two anonymous reviewers for xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Cornell University Press and its editor Roger Haydon provided insightful critiques of the first full draft of the book manuscript. Gavin Lewis expertly copyedited the final manuscript. Sections of this book draw on previously published material. I acknowledge Elsevier for permission to reprint portions of “Intertextual Relations: The Geopolitics of Land Rights in Thailand,” Political Geography 26, no. 7 (2007), and Lynne Rienner Publishers for permission to reprint portions of “Western Imperialism and Defensive Underdevelopment of Property Rights Institutions in Siam,” Journal of East Asian Studies 8, no. 1 (2008). My research was made possible through financial support from the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, Stockholm, and the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. My wonderful friends and family have made sure that the long periods I have been engrossed in the writing of this book have been subject to frequent and pleasant interruptions. For this I owe a special thanks to my wife, Chanita, and to our lovely daughters, Martina and Carolina. LAND AND LOYALTY ...