<p>The war against the communists ended long ago over but the facts about the violence of the time are still not clear. We do not know the exact number of lives lost, particularly of villagers living in remote areas. Even the losses that happened in the middle of the city such as the events of Oct 14, Oct 6, May 1992, and May 2010, still remain obscure and the facts have not been proven.</p><p>There has been no punishment for those responsible for these events, so it is hard for Thai society to learn lessons in order to prevent violence in the future.</p>

<p>In an analysis of the development of Thai identity and culture, an academic argues that much of what was promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as Thai identity and culture in the 1950s was invented for US consumers. &nbsp;</p> <p>“It's the American consumers who showed the urban middle class Thais what to value about Thai culture,” said Matthew Phillips, a Southeast Asian Studies academic from Aberystwyth University in the UK, at the launch of his book at Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus, on Tuesday, 3 November 2015.</p>