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.
An academic life
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 16/08/2019
» Charles "Biff" Keyes is exceptional. Among the foreign researchers who first came to study Thailand over half-a-century ago, few are now regularly read and cited today. Their works have aged. Academic fashions have changed. Their names have slowly faded. But anyone wanting to understand Thailand's Northeast today will still read Isan: Regionalism In Northeastern Thailand, first published in 1967 as a modest "data paper". This can partly be attributed to Keyes' staying power. He continued to teach, write and regularly visit Thailand until a handful of years ago. But it's also due to the book's quality, Biff's engaging personality, and his major role in the development of the study of Southeast Asia.
The best prime minister Thailand never elected
Life, Chris Baker, Published on 16/11/2018
» Anand Panyarachun's two spells as unelected prime minister in 1991-2 had such a profound effect that they now seem preordained by history. This splendid book shows how the reality was otherwise.