Yuangrat and I are excited about starting our writing blog as a way to communicate more frequently with our readers. We will use this blog to do several things:
show how Thai history impacts current thoughts and actions
interact with readers of both our fiction and non-fiction, seeking comments, corrections and suggestions to improve that work
give readers additional information, background and explanation to better understand the issues we address
display photographs that help readers visualize the people and places in Thai history that continue to impact our lives today
draw attention to books and articles on Thailand’s past that illuminate current issues
In this first blog, we would like to draw your attention to the re-issuance of our book Radical Thought, Thai Mind. Written in the 1980s, the book gave a detailed account of the revolutionary ideas important in the political turbulence of the 1970s. With return of political conflict from 2004 to the present, we thought it would be useful to revisit the history of the development of radical political thinking. We found that a great deal of useful scholarly work has been done on this topic since we wrote our book, so a thorough re-write of the book was needed.
The new edition of the book includes a great deal of material that was not available when we wrote the original version. This material enabled us to provide more information on the history of the Communist Party of Thailand, the problems faced by the radical faction of the People’s Party after the 1932 coup and the thinking of radical writers of the 1960s among other issues. We expanded the sections on gender equality and the influence of Buddhism.
We were also able to add to our earlier interviews with radical thinkers by talking with some who played key roles in both the 1970s and the most recent conflicts. These include Red Shirt leaders Thida Thavornseth, Weng Tochirakarn and Jaran Dita-apichai along with community activist Prateep Ungsongtham-Hata.
The new version benefits from the research and insights of scholars such as Thongchai Winichakul, Craig Reynolds, Charnvit Kasetsiri, Ji Ungphakorn, James Ockey, Kevin Hewison, Benedict Anderson, Kasian Tejapira, Andrew Turton, Peter Koret, Vichitvong Na Pombhejara, Charles F. Keyes, Santikaro Bhikku, Peter A. Jackson, Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit.
We hope the rewritten Radical Thought, Thai Mind will not only provide an understanding of the political thinking of the past, but will help readers understand the divisions that continue to afflict Thailand today. Many of the ideas in conflict between the red shirts and yellow shirts that have torn Thailand in the 21st century date back to the reign of King Chulalongkorn. Thai students sent overseas to learn Western science, technology and law, came home with Western ideas about democracy, social justice and economics that contrasted sharply with traditional Thai thinking. Much of that traditional thinking had its roots in the sakdina system that dated back to the early kingdoms of Ayuthaya. The books shows how the sakdina system worked and how it encouraged acceptance of a hierarchical society that allocated benefits, rights and duties according to socio-political status that depended on the king as a semi-divine “deva-raja.”
The new ideas brought back to Thailand (then Siam) by returning students led to the formation of the “People’s Party” that sought to transform what they saw as an outdated, ineffective and unjust system. Frustrated by the system’s resistance to change, the People’s Party plotted the overthrow of the traditional monarchy in 1932. Although the coup was successful, the traditional Thai system proved resilient. Over the following decades, splits within the People’s Party gradually allowed the return of an authoritarian system, now headed by military leaders rather than the hereditary monarch. The traditionalists proved adept in using fears of Communism to suppress progressive ideas — including some that animated the Red Shirt movement nearly a century later.
Student-led demonstrations on October 14, 1973 withstood attacks by the army and police to overthrow the government and open a short-lived experiment with electoral democracy.
As the government moved back towards hierarchical authoritarianism and the People’s Party unraveled in factionalism, radical thinkers turned towards the revolutionary ideas of Marx, Lenin and Mao. The collapse of the military-led government after student protests in 1973 led to three years of increasingly violent attacks on progressive student, labor and farmer activists. That violence culminated in the brutality of the October 6, 1976 attack on demonstrators at Thammasat University and the military coup against the elected government later the same day.
We show how the student radicals who sought refuge from right-wing suppression fled to the forest to join the Communist Party of Thailand. Soon however, the radicals found that their ideas conflicted with the devout Maoism of the party leaders. We detail the internal Communist struggle that helped lead to the collapse of the party in extensive interviews with party defectors backed by party documents.
We trace the various paths by which the radical leaders re-entered Thai society and identify a split in the radical movement. Disheartened by the failure of the revolution, many gave up on political means to effect change and turned to local actions. These radicals often became the leaders of NGOs focused on local issues of land rights, environment and health. Others continued to struggle for progressive change through party politics despite the corruption and weakness of the Thai political parties. Many of these political activists joined forces with billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra hoping to convince the successful capitalist to bring in reforms to help the poor. At the same time, the localist NGO leaders, fearful of the money-driven, authoritarian rule of Thaksin joined the military and traditional elite agitating against the elected government.
This historical split continues to create division and confusion in the lead-up to the elections that have been announced for 2019. We hope our history of Thai radical political thought will help readers understand the complex divisions between the localists and the red shirts, between the rural people and the city elite, between the civilian politicians and the politicized military.
We are pleased to provide free download of a pdf version of the book for all those who sign up to our monthly newsletter. Subscribing to the newsletter will also give you access to downloads of many other articles and research reports. We look forward to your comments.
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