New Directions in Thai Studies

This pathbreaking collection analyses pivotal historical contexts and cultural settings in modern Thailand. The analytical frame of postcolonial studies challenges conservative narratives that Siam/Thailand was “never colonised”, highlighting how the country’s modern transformations have been responses to the challenges presented by imperial and neo-imperial regimes in Southeast Asia. This book brings together many scholars of Thailand whose innovative studies have not previously been available to an international academic audience. This collection showcases the important work that newer generations of researchers are undertaking in Thailand and other Asian countries. —Peter A. Jackson, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University. The days that Thai studies is the business of the Western scholars gazing upon Thailand are over. This volume is evidence of the increasing significance of “home scholars” in Thai studies and the range of how they engage with the dominant views on various issues in English, both radically and otherwise. —Thongchai Winichakul, Emeritus Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This pathbreaking collection analyses pivotal historical contexts and cultural settings in modern Thailand. The analytical frame of postcolonial studies challenges conservative narratives that Siam/Thailand was “never colonised”, highlighting how the country’s modern transformations have been responses to the challenges presented by imperial and neo-imperial regimes in Southeast Asia. This book brings together many scholars of Thailand whose innovative studies have not previously been available to an international academic audience. This collection showcases the important work that newer generations of researchers are undertaking in Thailand and other Asian countries.