Thai society and patterns of political leadership

Asian Survey

Volumn 36, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 345-359

  Ockey, James ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY   (New Zealand)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

LEADERSHIP; PATRON-CLIENT RELATIONS; POLITICAL CHANGE;

THAILAND;

EID: 0030451967     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.1996.36.4.01p0123g     Document Type: Article

References (21)

1. Yot Santasombat, Amnat Bukkhalikkaphap lae phunam kanmuang Thai [Power, personality, and Thai political leaders] (Bangkok: Nam Thai, 1990). Oddly, there are at least two undergraduate Thai-language texts on political leadership but neither discusses Thai leaders.
2. Yot Santasombat, "Leadership and Security in Modem Thai Politics," in Mohammed Ayoob and Chai-anan Samudavanija, eds., Leadership Perceptions and National Security: The Southeast Asian Experience (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1989), pp. 83-109.
3. Sombat Chantornvong and Montri Chenvidyakam, "Constitutional Rule and the Institutionalization of Leadership and Security in Thailand," in Stephen Chee, ed., Leadership and Security in Southeast Asia (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1991), pp. 141-78.
4. Surin Maisrikrod, "Emerging Patterns of Political Leadership in Thailand," Contemporary Southeast Asia, no. 15 (June 1993), pp. 80-97, esp. p. 85.
5. By contrast, for the 16 years from 1976 to 1992, the prime ministers were born from 1917 to 1938.
6. Anek Laothamatas, "Business and Politics in Thailand: New Patterns of Influence," Asian Survey. 28:4 (April 1988), pp. 451-70; James Ockey, "Business Leaders, Gangsters, and the Middle Class: Societal Groups and Civilian Rule in Thailand," Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1992, chapter 6.
7. Anek Laothamatas, "Business and Politics in Thailand: New Patterns of Influence," Asian Survey. 28:4 (April 1988), pp. 451-70; James Ockey, "Business Leaders, Gangsters, and the Middle Class: Societal Groups and Civilian Rule in Thailand," Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1992, chapter 6.
8. Obviously complex personalities cannot be encapsulated in categories of the type presented here. The goal of this classification is not to understand individual leaders but to look at broad patterns.
9. Niels Mulder, Inside Thai Society: An Interpretation of Everyday Life (Bangkok: Duang Kamol, 1992), chapter 2.
10. Thak Chaloemtiarana, Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism (Bangkok: Social Science Association of Thailand, 1979), pp. 338-40.
11. Throughout his term as PM, Prem had strong visible support from the monarchy and upon retirement, was named to the Privy Council. Chuan married a member of the aristocracy. So while the direct link to aristocracy and old money has been broken, there may be a sense of commoner becoming pseudo-aristocrat.
12. Sen Phongphit, Buddhism, Reform and the Role of Monks in Community Development in Thailand (Hong Kong: Arena Press, 1988).
13. These demonstrations were led by "Maha" Chamlong Srimuang, leader of Palang Dharma and a strong supporter of the Santi Asok Buddhist sect. While many were willing to support Chamlong's strong moral stand during the demonstrations, he lost seats in Bangkok in the ensuing elections, probably because voters believed he was uncompromising. In this way, Chamlong's attempts to embody both decha and khunna (his political party is the Power of Righteousness or Moral Force party) have been less than successful.
14. The king was one of Prem's strongest supporters.
15. The Bangkok Post quotes the crown prince as saying, "Do I look like a chaopho [godfather] type? . . . The rumors are groundless." (Post, 31 December 1992, p. 1; also Dichan, 15 August 1986, pp. 131-62.)
16. The Bangkok Post quotes the crown prince as saying, "Do I look like a chaopho [godfather] type? . . . The rumors are groundless." (Post, 31 December 1992, p. 1; also Dichan, 15 August 1986, pp. 131-62.)
17. Mulder, Inside Thai Society, chapter 2.
18. See Supatra Masdit, Politics in Thailand with Special Reference to the Role of Women (Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies, Regional Speakers Lecture Series, lecture no. 4, 1991).
19. Chai-anan Samudavanija, "State-Identify Creation, State-Building and Civil Society," in Craig Reynolds, ed., National Identity and Its Defenders (Chiang Mai: Silkworm, 1991). Chaianan argues that until recently joining the bureaucracy meant assimilation into Thai culture, while remaining an entrepreneur meant remaining Chinese (p. 65). He argues that with the increasing importance of entrepreneurs in the political system, Chineseness is becoming more important.
20. Bangkok Post, 2 November 1995, p. 3. Journalists most wanted a reshuffle and farmers wanted it least.
21. Far Eastern Economic Review, 26 October 1995, p. 24.