Reforming Thai Politics (review)

Book Reviews183 about democracy being the only antidote to this particular ailment. The essays here explore the variety and dynamism of specific responses to repressive acts and institutions. They demonstrate that too much attention to the politicians, soldiers and bureaucrats would weaken our ability to recognize the turbulent emotions that state actors are stirring up among a wide variety of people not accustomed to the uses of power. By recording what some such people are trying to do, the authors here alert us to the possibilities ahead. To keep such records from wandering aimlessly in all directions is far from easy. The editors are to be commended for keeping their colleagues focused on the central theme. Their firm hands have ensured that the six essays on an elusive subject have told their stories equally well. Wang Gungwu East Asian Institute National University of Singapore Reforming Thai Politics. Edited by Duncan McCargo. Copenhagen, Denmark: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), 2002. Softcover: 291pp. This is yet another useful book about the post-1997 reform politics in Thailand, a theme that has recently attracted enormous attention among Thai political observers, both in Thailand and abroad. Six years of civil society's struggle to reform Thai politics aiming to establish among other things, better checks and balances in the governance of Thailand culminated in the promulgation of the "People's Constitution" in 1997. Yet the new Constitution — the 16th since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932 — should not be taken as an end-point, but rather as another step in a long road of political development in Thailand. It is in this context that Reforming Thai Politics is worthwhile reading. Duncan McCargo, one of the most prolific Western [farang) scholars on Thailand in recent years, should be congratulated for turning into an edited volume the papers presented at the 7lh International Conference on Thai Studies, held in Amsterdam in July 1999. By and large, the volume covers sufficiently key aspects of the reform. The book is divided into three main parts: Part I on the Meanings of Political Reform, discusses the background of the reform. Prawes Wasi, who was one of the key persons — or in fact, one might say, the one who "started it all" — in initiating the reform succinctly recaps the events leading to the reform movement. Although, readers may 184Book Reviews have heard it before through the media, Prawes's article here is probably the first first-hand account from him written in English. Prawes, a medical doctor and professor of medicine and who is now one of Thailand's most respected public intellectuals, traces the reform process back to the 1991 military coup against the democratically elected government of Chatichai Choonhavan and the subsequent May 1992 public uprising against the military. Of great interest in Prawes's chapter is the way he and other reformists, comprising key persons from various organizations and professions, were able to turn a rather elite-urban, academic, legalistic and highly technical matter ofpolitical reform into a common political language, thus resulting in a formidable countrywide political movement. In the end, the movement, empowered by their strong desire to change the political system and practices in Thailand, originated the 1997 Constitution. One must say, this is the work of a political genius. Other chapters in this section highlight issues pertinent to the political reform. They include detailed discussions by Michael Connors about the processes and hurdles associated with the drafting and promulgation of the 1997 Constitution; the notion of "good governance" by Thirayuth Boonmi, a former student leader during the 1973 student uprising and a well-regarded public intellectual; and the stabilizing role of the Thai monarchy in an unstable democracy by Kobkua Suwannathat-Pian. Two other chapters in this section on human rights and democratization and social welfare help caution the reader how precarious or shallow Thai democracy remains when people still do not understand the importance of basic human rights and social welfare. The most interesting part of the book is Part II on the Popular Sector. There are five very interesting papers in this section dealing with the rise and the role of civil society in the political reforms. Two...