Bangkok, May 2010: Perspectives on a Divided Thailand

Title Page, Copyright

BANGKOK May 2010 The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional research centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES, including ASEAN and APEC), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued more than 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. INSTITUTE OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES SINGAPORE Edited by Michael J. Montesano Pavin Chachavalpongpun Aekapol Chongvilaivan Perspectives on a Divided Thailand BANGKOK May 2010 First published in Singapore in 2012 by ISEAS Publishing Institute of Southeast Asian Studies 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Singapore 119614 E-mail: publish@iseas.edu.sg Website: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical , photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.© 2012 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the publisher or its supporters. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Bangkok, May 2010: perspectives on a divided Thailand / edited by Michael J. Montesano, Pavin Chachavalpongpun and Aekapol Chongvilaivan. 1. Thailand—Politics and government—21st century. 2. Monarchy—Thailand. 3. Political violence—Thailand. I. Montesano, Michael J. II. Pavin Chachavalpongpun. III. Aekapol Chongvilaivan. DS586 B211 2012 ISBN 978-981-4345-35-4 (soft cover) ISBN 978-981-4345-34-7 (E-book PDF) (Cover photo: Thai fire-fighters douse the Central World shopping mall building that was set on fire by anti-government “Red Shirt” protestors in central Bangkok, 21 May 2010. Source: REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom) Typeset by International Typesetters Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Seng Lee Press Pte Ltd ...