In Buddha’s Company explores a previously neglected aspect of the
Vietnam War: the experiences of the Thai troops who served there
and the attitudes and beliefs that motivated them to volunteer.
Thailand sent nearly 40,000 volunteer soldiers to South Vietnam to
serve alongside the Free World Forces in the conflict, but unlike
the other foreign participants, the Thais came armed with
historical and cultural knowledge of the region. Blending the
methodologies of cultural and military history, Richard Ruth
examines the individual experiences of Thai volunteers in their
wartime encounters with American allies, South Vietnamese
civilians, and Viet Cong enemies. Ruth shows how the Thais were
transformed by living amongst the modern goods and war machinery of
the Americans and by traversing the jungles and plantations haunted
by indigenous spirits. At the same time, Ruth argues, Thailand’s
ruling institutions used the image of volunteers to advance their
respective agendas, especially those related to anticommunist
authoritarianism. Drawing on numerous interviews with Thai veterans
and archival material from Thailand and the United States, Ruth
focuses on the cultural exchanges that occurred between Thai troops
and their allies and enemies, presenting a Southeast Asian view of
a conflict that has traditionally been studied as a Cold War event
dominated by an American political agenda. The resulting study
considers such diverse topics as comparative Buddhisms, alternative
modernities, consumerism, celebrity, official memories vs. personal
recollections, and the value of local knowledge in foreign wars.
The war’s effects within Thailand itself are closely considered,
demonstrating that the war against communism in Vietnam, as
articulated by Thai leaders, was a popular cause among nearly all
segments of the population. Furthermore, Ruth challenges previous
assertions that Thailand’s forces were merely "America’s
mercenaries" by presenting the multiple, overlapping motivations
for volunteering offered by the soldiers themselves. In Buddha’s
Company makes clear that many Thais sought direct involvement in
the Vietnam War and that their participation had profound and
lasting effects on the country’s political and military
institutions, royal affairs, popular culture, and international
relations. As one of only a handful of academic histories of
Thailand in the 1960s, it provides a crucial link between the
keystone studies of the Phibun-Sarit years (1946–1963) and those
examining the turbulent 1970s.
General
Imprint: |
University of Hawaii Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2010 |
First published: |
October 2010 |
Authors: |
Morten Schl'utter
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 18mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
288 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8248-3489-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8248-3489-5 |
Barcode: |
9780824834890 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!