Showing 1 - 3 of 3
The age of magical capitalism
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 07/01/2022
» At a press conference in 2016, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha tugged open his shirt to reveal over a dozen amulets hanging on his chest, and explained these would give him moral support in negotiations with Russia's President Putin. The leader of globalised Thailand was vaunting the use in international diplomacy of devices made with arcane substances and blessed by monks with a reputation for expertise in magic.
Remembering a great scholar
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 17/12/2015
» Ben Anderson died in Surabaya, Indonesia, on Dec 11, slightly short of his 80th birthday. Southeast Asia has lost one of its great scholars. This book, published last year, is a collection of his main writings on Siam.
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".