I have recently finished reading Volume 3 of a wonderful Thai studies trilogy.
Volume 1 Nation, was published in 1994. It is a forensic account of the construction of one of the core symbols of modern Thailand’s nationhood.
It was a long wait until Volume 2, King, emerged in 2006. But the wait was worth it. The author risked all to examine the personalities, the politics and the public relations behind the revered face of the one who never smiles.
Volume 3, Religion, hit the bookshops late last year. In this third volume of the trilogy, the author veers away from an explicit engagement with the politics of nationhood or monarchy. This is a more subtly subversive volume but, as it winds it’s way through monastaries, libraries and ancient manuscripts, a little-known subaltern world of religious practice emerges. Just as Volume 1 unravelled the nation and Volume 2 unravelled the monarchy, Volume 3 unravels the notion of a unified national religion shaped by reformist kings.
I can think of no better introduction to some of the central themes in Thai national life than this extraordinary trilogy. Is a boxed set too much to ask for?
2 responses so far ↓
1 BKK lawyer // Oct 21, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I recently finished vol. 1, Nation (Siam Mapped, by Prof. Thongchai Winichakul), and agree it is an excellent, fascinating history of the formation of what we know now as the nation of Siam/Thailand. It explains the interplay of the colonial powers’ designs on S.E. Asia, the hegemonic reaction of the monarchy (esp. Rama V), and the new (to Siam) science of geography, which Siam had to learn quickly as the colonial powers demanded the mapping of borders, itself a new concept to Siam.
I followed that with The Rise and Fall of the Thai Absolute Monarchy, by Prof. Chaiyan Rajchagool, published by White Lotus, also in 1994. It dovetails well in many ways with Thongchai’s Siam Mapped. It also dovetails well with King.
2 Chris Beale // Oct 22, 2009 at 12:09 am
Well said – BKK lawyer.
Andrew – when I bought my second copy of Handley’s book, in Singapore last week, the saleswomen said, with a giggle :
“the King of Thailand DOES smile – but not very much!”.
At least as much as Lee Kwan Yew, thought I !!!
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