Showing 1 - 4 of 4
Judging by the cover
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 02/09/2022
» We first published A History Of Thailand in 2005, 17 years ago. We have just prepared a fourth edition, adding a new chapter on the extraordinary events since 2005, and over 200 other changes based on new research, mostly by Thai historians. We needed a new cover to signal that this edition is really different.
Do rights matter in Thailand?
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 30/09/2013
» Fifteen years ago, "M.56" was spray-painted all over sites of environmental protest like a spell to ward off evil. The clause in the 1997 Constitution that guaranteed the rights of local communities over natural resources bore the number 56. This clause and the formation of the National Human Rights Commission raised great expectations that the authorities would no longer be able to use "development" and "national security" as justification for riding roughshod over local communities. That hope turned out to be somewhat forlorn.
The unofficial court jester of Modernising Siam
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 07/01/2013
» He claimed that his only aim was "to benefit the royalty, my country, and the Buddhist religion." But many others, especially those in power, thought he was a nut and a "Man of Great Nuisance to Society".
Ghosts, amulets, ringtones, and the rest of Thai Buddhism
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 09/01/2012
» Somdet To is, according to Justin McDaniel "arguably the most famous monk in Thai history." His image, picture, chants, biographies, amulets, and pamphlets are everywhere. Yet you could read everything written on Thai Buddhism in English for scholars or tourists without noticing his existence, let alone his importance. In this superb book, McDaniel not only does justice to Somdet To but suggests a new way of thinking about "Thai Buddhism" and how it is studied.