Bangkok, May 2010: Perspectives on a Divided Thailand

Table of Contents

CONTENTS Contributors ix 1. Introduction: Seeking Perspective on a Slow-Burn Civil War 1 Michael J. Montesano 2. The Culture of the Army, Matichon Weekly, 28 May 2010 10 Nidhi Eoseewong 3. Thoughts on Thailand’s Turmoil, 11 June 2010 15 James Stent 4. Truth and Justice When Fear and Repression Remain: 4 2 An Open Letter to Dr Kanit Na Nakorn, 16 July 2010 Tyrell Haberkorn 5. The Impact of the Red Shirt Rallies on the Thai Economy 55 Aekapol Chongvilaivan 6. The Socio-Economic Bases of the Red/Yellow Divide: 64 A Statistical Analysis Ammar Siamwalla and Somchai Jitsuchon 7. The Ineffable Rightness of Conspiracy: Thailand’s Democrat- 72 ministered State and the Negation of Red Shirt Politics Marc Askew 8. A New Politics of Desire and Disintegration in Thailand 87 Chairat Charoensin-o-larn vi Contents vi Contents 9. Notes towards an Understanding of Thai Liberalism 97 Michael K. Connors 10. Thailand’s Classless Conflict 108 Shawn W. Crispin 11. The Grand Bargain: Making “Reconciliation” Mean Something 120 Federico Ferrara 12. Changing Thailand, an Awakening of Popular Political 131 Consciousness for Rights? David Fullbrook 13. Class, Inequality, and Politics 141 Kevin Hewison 14. Thailand’s Rocky Path towards a Full-Fledged Democracy 161 Kasit Piromya 15. The Color of Politics: Thailand’s Deep Crisis of Authority 171 Charles Keyes 16. Two Cheers for Rally Politics 190 Duncan McCargo 17. Thai Foreign Policy in Crisis: From Partner to Problem 199 Ann Marie Murphy 18. Thailand in Trouble: Revolt of the Downtrodden or Conflict 214 among Elites? Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker 19. From Red to Red: An Auto-ethnography of Economic and 230 Political Transitions in a Northeastern Thai Village Pattana Kitiarsa 20. The Rich, the Powerful and the Banana Man: The United 248 States’ Position in the Thai Crisis Pavin Chachavalpongpun Contents vii Contents vii 21. The Social Bases of Autocratic Rule in Thailand 267 Craig J. Reynolds 22. The Strategy of the United Front for Democracy against 274 Dictatorship on “Double Standards”: A Grand Gesture to History, Justice, and Accountability David Streckfuss 23. No Way Forward but Back? Re-emergent Thai Falangism, 287 Democracy, and the New “Red Shirt” Social Movement Jim Taylor 24. Flying Blind 313 Danny Unger 25. The Political Economy of Thailand’s Middle-Income Peasants 323 Andrew Walker 26. Royal Succession and the Evolution of Thai Democracy 333 Andrew Walker Index 339 ...