Since it was first published in 2005, A History of Thailand has been hailed as an authoritative, lively and readable account of Thailand's political, economic, social and cultural history. From the early settlements in the Chao Phraya basin to today, Baker and Phongpaichit trace how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree peasants was transformed by colonialism, the expansion of the rice frontier and the immigration of traders and labourers from southern China. This book examines how the monarchy managed the foundation of a new nation‐state at the end of the nineteenth century, and how urban nationalists, ambitious generals, communist rebels and business politicians competed to take control through the twentieth century. It tracks Thailand's economic changes, globalisation and the evolution of mass society, and draws on popular culture to dramatize social trends. This edition contains a new chapter on Thailand's turbulent politics since 2006 and incorporates new sources and research throughout.

Early European visitors placed Ayutthaya alongside China and India as the great powers of Asia. Yet in 1767 the city was destroyed and its history has been neglected. This book is the first study of Ayutthaya from its emergence in the thirteenth century until its fall. It offers a wide-ranging view of social, political, and cultural history with focus on commerce, kingship, Buddhism, and war. By drawing on a wide range of sources including chronicles, accounts by Europeans, Chinese, Persians, and Japanese, law, literature, art, landscape, and language, the book presents early Siam as a 'commercial' society, not the peasant society usually assumed. Baker and Phongpaichit attribute the fall of the city not to internal conflict or dynastic decline but failure to manage the social and political consequences of prosperity. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the history of Southeast Asia and the early modern world.

Kings in Love: Lilit Phra Lo and Twelve Months (Thawathotsamat) are among the earliest works of Thai literature. These translations by an award-winning team aim to convey not only the meaning of the Thai originals but also their beauty and emotional power. Lilit Phra Lo is a long narrative poem with an unusual romance, a contest of rival magic, an erotic climax, and a blood-soaked ending. It has been condemned as feudal and indulgent, but celebrated for its flowing poetry and emotional power. Twelve Months, a passionate lament for a lost lover, was once greatly acclaimed but has been quietly sidelined for being “too erotic.” Each poem has an afterword tracing the work’s origins, structure, publication history, and critical reception. Though rooted in Thai culture, both poems speak to universal themes and have echoes in world literature.

Khun Chang Khun Phaen is an outstanding classic in the Thai language, an entertaining folk epic set amidst the social panorama of traditional Siam. Masterfully told in the style of an ancient saga, it is a spectacular love story rich in romance, adventure, violence, farce, and magic, and ending in the tragic and enigmatic death of its heroine. The great Thai linguist William Gedney once remarked, "if all other information on traditional Thai culture were to be lost, the whole complex could be reconstructed from this marvelous text." Written in lively prose, this new, abridged edition retains every scene, incident, and significant speech from the full English translation, except for one short section. The authors won the A. L. Becker Southeast Asian Literature in Translation Prize (2010) for the full translation.

For over two thousand years, jataka-tales of the Buddha's previous lives-have been popular as teaching and entertainment. Apart from the classical Indian jataka, many others in Southeast Asia were assembled in collections known as the "Fifty Jataka" (Pannasa Jataka). They are now acclaimed as the lifeblood of the region's literature. This book offers the first published English translations of twenty-one stories from the Thailand collection, including some of the best-known Thai stories: Sudhana-Manohara, the Golden Conch, and Rathasena, among other quests, moral tales, strings of riddles, and story cycles. Here the tales are translated fully and faithfully with notes and accompanying information on the Thailand collection.

Siam's great folk epic, The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen, has entertained readers and audiences down through the centuries, with its rich and earthy portrayal of life and relationships. Here, a mix of Thai and Western scholars present five critical essays that uncover hidden layers and expose new themes using theories and approaches developed mainly within the field of Western literary criticism. The first two essays arose out of the crucible of Thailand's social upheaval and student protest movement in the early 1970s, while the remaining essays are more recent.

Gambling, prostitution, drugs, arms trading, oil smuggling, and trafficking in people-these six illegal businesses are large and getting larger in Thailand. They distort the economy and victimize people. They are increasingly linked together through networks of protection and organized crime. They help to fund Thailand's corrosive "money politics" and to sustain corruption in the police. The authors argue that control of the illegal economy, especially through reform of the police, is vital for the development of a modern economy and functioning democracy.

Written after a battle fought in approximately 1475, this poem may be the oldest work of literature from Siam. It features the earliest and most detailed description of a Siamese army, the most elaborate eulogy of an early Thai monarch, and a fascinating discussion of the concept of loyalty. Scenes of personal treachery, heroism, combat, and looting after victory give an absorbing image of early Siam. This translation shares the poem—esteemed in Thailand for its historical and literary importance—with a wider audience. Blank verse conveys the rhythm and atmosphere of the original, and annotations explain obscure words and concepts. An afterword analyzes form, content, and the poem’s literary and historical significance.

Siam's folk epic of love, war, and tragedy Khun Chang Khun Phaen is one of the most famous works of old Thai literature. The plot is a love story, set against a background of war, and ending in high tragedy. This folk epic was first developed in oral form for popular performance with lashings of romance, adventure, violence, farce, and magic. It was later adopted by the Siamese court and written down, with two kings contributing. This first-ever translation is based on Prince Damrong’s standard edition of 1917-18, with over a hundred passages recovered from earlier versions. This English translation is written in lively prose, completely annotated, with over four hundred original line drawings and an afterword explaining the work’s historical background, social context, and poetic style. The main volume presents the entire poem in translation. The companion volume contains alternative chapters and extensions, Prince Damrong’s prefaces, and reference lists of Thai terms. The volumes are available separately or as a slipcased set. According to the leading Thai linguist William Gedney, "If all other information on traditional Thai culture were to be lost, the whole complex could be reconstructed from this marvelous text."

Pridi Banomyong (1900-83) was one of the greatest figures in twentieth-century Thailand. At the age of just twenty-seven, he started the movement which led to the 1932 revolution against Thailand's absolute monarchy. Through the 1930s, he introduced a wide range of reforms in law, local administration, economic policy, and foreign affairs. During the Second World War, he formed the Seri Thai resistance movement against the Japanese occupation. After the war, he served briefly as prime minister and became deeply involved in the politics of the Asian region during decolonization. From 1947 onwards, Pridi was opposed by US-backed militarists who seized power by coup, murdered his associates, overturned many of his liberal reforms, and established dictatorial rule. In 1949 he fled into exile and never returned. Pridi by Pridi contains nineteen selections from Pridi's writings, speeches, and interviews which focus on his personal background and his active political career from 1932 to 1949. They include a new translation of the "outline economic plan" of 1932, which still excites controversy today. They also include first-ever English translations of Pridi's most important writings about the 1932 revolution, the Seri Thai movement, the monarchy, and his contemporaries.

This book contains the first academic translations of key legal texts from the Ayutthaya era (1351-1767), along with an essay on the role of law in Thai history. The legal history of Southeast Asia has languished because few texts are accessible in translation. The Three Seals Code is a collection of Thai legal manuscripts surviving from the Ayutthaya era. The Palace Law, probably dating to the late fifteenth century, was the principal law on kingship and government. The Thammasat, a descendant of India's dharmasastra, stood at the head of the Code and gave it authority. Here these two key laws are presented in English translation for the first time along with detailed annotations and analyses of their content. The coverage of family arrangements, court protocol, warfare, royal women, and ceremonial conduct in the Palace Law presents a detailed portrayal of Siamese kingship, reaching beyond terms such as devaraja, thammaraja, and cakravartin. Close analysis of the Thammasat questions the assumption that this text has a long-standing and fundamental role in Thai legal practice. Royal lawmaking had a large and hitherto unappreciated role in the premodern Thai state. This book is an important contribution to Thai history, Southeast Asian history, and comparative legal studies.

This book contains the first academic translations of key legal texts from the Ayutthaya era (1351-1767), along with an essay on the role of law in Thai history. The legal history of Southeast Asia has languished because few texts are accessible in translation. The Three Seals Code is a collection of Thai legal manuscripts surviving from the Ayutthaya era. The Palace Law, probably dating to the late fifteenth century, was the principal law on kingship and government. The Thammasat, a descendant of India's dharmasastra, stood at the head of the Code and gave it authority. Here these two key laws are presented in English translation for the first time along with detailed annotations and analyses of their content. The coverage of family arrangements, court protocol, warfare, royal women, and ceremonial conduct in the Palace Law presents a detailed portrayal of Siamese kingship, reaching beyond terms such as devaraja, thammaraja, and cakravartin. Close analysis of the Thammasat questions the assumption that this text has a long-standing and fundamental role in Thai legal practice. Royal lawmaking had a large and hitherto unappreciated role in the premodern Thai state. This book is an important contribution to Thai history, Southeast Asian history, and comparative legal studies.

This volume of collected essays by Somboon Siriprachai offers a critical assessment of Thai industrialisation with a focus on industrial policy, rent seeking and income inequality. An economist by training, Somboon saw the Thai state as authoritarian rather than developmental, and criticised the adoption of policies that were oriented toward increasing government revenue instead of nurturing industrial development. While these policies achieved growth, they did not strengthen Thailand's technological ability and industrial skills, or promote research and development. Somboon disputed the World Bank's classification of Thailand as a Newly Industrialising Economy (NIE), backing his argument with empirical evidence and comparisons with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The success of these East Asian countries, he suggested, rested on the competence of the state to direct the accumulation process rather than reliance on any particular strategy for industrialisation. Arguing that growth of industrial productivity is the key to a country's living standard and its ability to compete in the world market, he argued that government intervention was essential to successful late-comer industrialisation. Combining institutional economics with a historical perspective, Somboon's work provides a unique analysis of the transition of the Thai economy from around the mid-nineteenth century until 2000. His essays are a unique and valuable contribution not only to Thai studies but also to the study of economic development of late-comer countries and the role of the state in that process.

This book is the result of a major research study on corruption, set in its political context. It covers estimates of the amounts involved; the roles of politicians, business people, bureaucrats, and police; the political background and impact; popular attitudes on corruption; and potential counter-measures. The publication of the original research prompted a political storm. Both inside and outside of Thailand, this work is recognized as a landmark study.

Extreme inequalities in income,wealth and power lie behind Thailand's political turmoil. What are the sources of this inequality? Why does it persist, or even increase when the economy grows? How can it be addressed? The contributors to this important study-Thai scholars, reformers and civil servants-shed light on the many dimensions of inequality in Thailand, looking beyond simple income measures to consider land ownership, education, finance, business structures and politics. Thecontributors propose a series of reforms in taxation, spending and institutional reform that can address growing inequality. Inequality is among the biggest threats to social stability in Southeast Asia, and this close study of a key Southeast Asian country will be relevant to regional policy-makers, economists and business decision-makers,as well as students of oligarchy and inequality more generally.