The launch of the fourth edition of Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit’s seminal book: ‘A History of Thailand’, now featuring a brand new final chapter covering the turbulent period from the 2005 elections to the youth protests of 2021, has driven discussion about the importance of reading history and what Thailand means to people today.

FCCT panel on ‘A History of Thailand’. From left to right: Chris Baker, James Wise, Prajak Kongkirati, and Pasuk Phongpaichit. (Source: screen capture from Facebook Live)

‘A History of Thailand’ has proved extremely popular for foreign and Thai readers alike. The Thai translation of the previous edition, first published in 2015, has since been reprinted 13 times and sold over 100,000 copies. The book’s easy-to-read nature and synthesis of recent scholarship were cited as reasons for its success by the commentators.

On 7 September, 2022, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) hosted a panel to voice their thoughts on the new fourth edition. Launched in July, the updated edition draws upon new scholarship released since the third edition’s printing in 2015 to reexamine and rewrite 21st century Thai history.

The speakers included the authors Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, emeritus professor at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Economics, Prajak Kongkirati, professor of Political Science at Thammasat University, and James Wise, former Australian ambassador to Thailand.  The discussion was moderated by Gwen Robinson, past FCCT president.

“Democracy is like food”

The authors began by reading a letter from Thienchai Nokngam, the artist credited with painting the book cover, which was inspired by the youth movement’s desire for democracy. He wrote, “In truth, [the painting] is a comparison between democracy and food, especially seafood, because I live near the sea. Seafood is so good. Everyone likes eating deep sea fish and deep sea shellfish in the same way they want to have a deep, full-blown version of democracy.”

Painted by Thienchai Nokngam, the cover depicts the Democracy Monument, made of seafood, floating in the ocean, viewed by spectators walking along a beach. (Source: Haingkheang Sok)

Discussing recent history, Baker explained that in this edition for he sought to narrate the broader struggle for democratic transition while avoiding “the trap of over-analysing” any one institution. Instead, he tells a story that allows Thai readers to “find themselves in the history” without experiencing the “distancing” of school textbooks focused on kings and generals.

Co-author Pasuk Phongpaichit supports the idea of shifting the focus away from elites. She said the aim was to intentionally highlight underrepresented elements in Thai history by giving space to popular culture, writing on music from luk thung (country) to rap, and examining topics like Thai boxing, TV dramas, fashion, and social media.

Baker was openly critical of the monarchy’s continued centrality in Thai studies, noting that “in the past ten years, about 80% of recent scholarship on Thailand is about the monarchy. By having so much about the monarchy, it tends to give a picture that this is the only thing that is important about Thai politics, the rest is unimportant.” He mentioned Wasana Wongsurawat’s 2019 study: ‘The Crown and the Capitalists’ as an example of this notion.

“I sometimes think that even when books that are highly critical of the monarchy come out, the people in royalist circle actually like it, because it says we are the only thing that is important.” Challenging the paradigm, the authors have written an accessible history of Thailand that moves beyond kings, generals, and tycoons.

“Nation” redefined

Prajak Kongkirati expressed similar feelings when he addressed the youth pro-democracy movement. “History matters” to scholars and students alike, he said simply, echoing Thongchai Winichakul’s words on the humanities. To make the point, he told an anecdote about a high school that invited him to lecture on the 1932 overthrow of the absolute monarchy and the revolutionary People’s Party that staged the uprising.

A critic of official history, he was surprised to receive the email.  He was even more surprised to learn the request came not from teachers but from the students. “They were not happy with the school textbook and curriculum. They wanted to know more.” He was elated to accept the invitation.

The desire of young people to better understand their past is what Prajak considers to be a core theme of the book: the meaning of the nation.

“The nation has been defined and [and continues to be] redefined … all the time. This drives the dynamics of Thai society. Now, we’ve come to the point that the dominant narrative about the nation, which is the King as embodiment of the nation which has been coined since King Chulalongkorn. This notion of royal nationalism, or nation and the king as the same thing has been questioned and challenged, but Thai society has not come to terms with a new definition of the nation that can be embraced by all sides.”

The Monument to Suppressing the Rebellion or the Constitution Defense Monument as it was being moved for the first time in November 2016, before being moved again and disappearing in December 2018. (Source: Prachatai)

In his eyes, to contest official history or the dominant narrative is to redefine its meaning for the nation. The importance of this history and its preservation can be clearly seen in the increasing number of disappearing names, plaques, and other monuments dedicated to the memory of the 1932 revolution and Khana Ratsadon.

“I think now is a new era that … needs another book,” Prajak said jokingly in closing.

New era, new authoritarianism

In his remarks, James Wise spoke of the youth protests that surged in 2020 to demand political and monarchy reform. He also remarked upon the state’s changing tactics to counter opposition movements, protests, and dissent, observing that: “… the state responded differently. In one sense, it's good, we didn’t have the bloodshed that we had in the 70s, 90s, and 2010, but it is also a sign of how much cleverer the state is becoming at authoritarianism [which] … is now being conducted under a veneer of parliamentary democracy … a different environment [than previously].

By way of example, he offered the use of shipping containers and oil tankers to control and block the path of protesters. He also saw adaptive authoritarianism in the state use of Pegasus spyware to surveil critics of the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration.

Wise also noted just how many significant events have taken place since the release of the last edition of ‘A History of Thailand,’ including the 2014 coup, five years of direct military rule, the death of the previous monarch, the drafting of a new constitution, a public referendum on the draft, the 2019 election, the banning of a popular opposition party, and the “incredible protests of 2019-2021.”

Concluding the talk, Chris Baker read the opening paragraph of his book’s final chapter, the “key” in his view to the fourth edition:

“During the 27 years from the restoration of the parliament in 1978 to the election of 2005, the parliamentary system became established as never before. Elected politicians reclaimed space from the military, gradually at first, then decisively from 1992. Successive constitutional reforms enlarged the role of elections. Popular participation increased from a 44% turnout in 1979 to 73% in 2005. Policy platforms became a significant factor in elections from 2001 and the party system was streamlined into the approximation of a two party system.

"The cabinet and the parliament gradually passed more legislation more responsive to popular demands, including social welfare, reform of the bureaucracy, expansion of education, supports for agriculture, and provisions to combat poverty. As the parliamentary regime strengthened, there was more space for media, civil society, and public debate. Around the millennium, Thailand was vaunted as the most open society in Southeast Asia, and though many problems remained, the distance from the  book burning of the Thanin government of 1976, to the open debates of the early 2000s was immense.”

And yet, in stark contrast, “Thailand is now at the bottom of every scale: civil justice, democracy, openness, academic freedom, everything. It is quite a story. I hope that is what this edition tells us.”