From political reform and economic crisis to coup d'état in Thailand: The twists and turns of the political economy, 1997-2006

Asian Survey

Volumn 47, Issue 6, 2007, Pages 872-893

  Prasirtsuk, Kitti ^a  

^a THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY   (Thailand)

Author keywords

Constitution; Coup d' tat; Financial crisis; Political reform; Thaksin Shinawatra

Indexed keywords

CRISIS MANAGEMENT; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; ECONOMIC INSTABILITY; FINANCIAL CRISIS; POLITICAL ECONOMY; POLITICAL REFORM;

ASIA; EURASIA; SOUTHEAST ASIA; THAILAND;

EID: 57749156646     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: 1533838X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.2007.47.6.872     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. This is why the 2007 Constitution was being drafted to correct the shortcomings of the 1997 one.
2. Coined by Chris Baker, "pluto-populism" refers to a grand scale of populist policies initiated by tycoon politicians to gain popular support and create rich-poor and pluto-populist alliance. See Chris Baker, "Pluto-populism: Thaksin and Popular Politics," in Thailand Beyond the Crisis, ed. Peter Warr (New York: Routledge Curzon, 2005), pp. 107-08.
3. See Suchit Bunbongkarn, The Military in Thai Politics 1981-1986 (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies [ISEAS], 1987).
4. Kasian Tejapira, "Toppling Thaksin," New Left Review 39 (May-June 2006), pp. 5-37.
5. See Anek Laothamatas, Business Associations and the New Political Economy of Thailand (Boulder: Westview Press, 1992);
6. Likhit Dhiravegin, "Social Change and Contemporary Thai Politics: An Analysis of the Inter-relationship between the Society and the Polity," in Thai Politics: Selected Aspects of Development and Change, ed. Likhit Dhiravegin (Bangkok: Tri-Sciences Publishing House, 1985), pp. 294-331;
7. Pasuk Phongpaichit and Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, eds., Rat thun jaopho thongthin kapsangkhom Thai [The state, capital, provincial godfathers, and Thai society] (Bangkok: The Political Economy Center, Chulalongkorn University, 1992);
8. Ross Prizzia, Thailand in Transition: The Role of Oppositional Forces (Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1985).
9. Parliament here means only the House of Representatives, whose members are chosen by election. Until 2000, members of the Senate, now elected, were appointed by the prime minister.
10. Surin Maisrikrod, "The Thai Military: From Domination to Alienation to Separation to Cooperation," in The Development of Thai Democracy Since 1973, ed. Cavan Hogue, Proceedings of "The Thai Update 2003," National Thai Studies Center, Australian National University, April 2003, pp. 55-66.
11. Fred Riggs, Thailand: The Modernization of a Bureaucratic Polity (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1966), pp. 311-29.
12. See Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, Thailand: Economy and Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), ch. 4.
13. Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, "Aftermath: Structural Change and Policy Innovation after the Thai Crisis," in After the Storm: Crisis, Recovery, and Sustaining Development in Four Asian Economics, ed. K. S. Jomo (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2004), pp. 150-72;
14. James Ockey, "State, Bureaucracy, and Polity in Modern Thai Politics," Journal of Contemporary Asia 34:2 (2004), pp. 143-62.
15. See Prizzia, "Thailand in Transition."
16. Kasian, "Toppling Thaksin," p. 13.
17. See Ockey, "State, Bureaucracy, and Polity in Modern Thai Politics."
18. Paul Chambers, "Factions, Parties, Coalition Change, and Cabinet Durability in Thailand: 1979-2001," Ph.D. dissertation, Northern Illinois University, 2003, cited in Allen Hicken, "Constitution Reform, Constitution Crises, and the Politics of Economic Recovery in Thailand and the Philippines," paper presented at the Workshop East Asian Ten Years after the Crisis, July 2006, Australian National University, Canberra, p. 10.
19. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, "Thailand: Democratic Authoritarianism," Southeast Asian Affairs 2003 (Singapore: ISEAS, 2003), pp. 278-82.
20. Sombat Chantornvong, "The 1997 Constitution and the Politics," in Reforming Thai Politics, ed. Duncan McCargo (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2002), pp. 203-22.
21. Bangkok Post, October 31, 2000, cited in Chris Baker, "Pluto-populism: Thaksin and Popular Politics," p. 112.
22. Baker, ibid.
23. Kevin Hewison, "Neo-liberalism and Domestic Capital: The Political Outcomes of the Economic Crisis in Thailand," Journal of Development Studies 41:2 (February 2005), pp. 310-30.
24. Party List 2 is an informal party list, apart from the formal party list ("Party List 1"). In general, cabinet lineups are supposed to be picked from elected MPs on the formal party list.
25. Interview with ex-Thai Rak Thai, MP, February 2007, Bangkok.
26. Many businessmen MPs turned over their company shares to their family members.
27. Sondhi Limthongkul made this statement several times in his famous "Muang Thai Rai Sapda" [Thailand Weekly] TV program during 2005-06.
28. TMB was meant to distance itself from the Thai Military, while UOB simply refers to United Overseas Bank, the new owner from Singapore.
29. Ukrist Pathmanand and Rattapong Sornsuparb, "Thanakarn Thai lang Wikrit Srettakij" [Thai banks after the crisis], in Karntorsoo khong Tun Thai 2 [The struggle of Thai capitals, vol. 2], ed. Pasuk Phongpaichit (Bangkok: Matichon Press, 2006), pp. 151-216.
30. Ibid., p. 198.
31. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, "Tun Sampatan kab Thammapibarn tang Srettakij" [Concession capitalism and economic governance], paper presented at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) Annual Conference 2006, "Soo Nueng Tossawat Wikrit Srettakij: Dai Rianroo lae Prabprung Arai Bang?" [Toward a decade after economic crisis: Lessons learned and adjustment?], December 2006, Chonburi, Thailand, pp. 4-7.
32. Ibid.
33. Thaksin Shinawatra, Thaksin Chinnawat: Ta Du Dao Thao Tit Din [Thaksin Shinawatra: Eyes on the stars, feet on the ground], ed. Walaya (Bangkok: Matichon Press, 1999), pp. 227-34, cited in Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2004), p. 172.
34. Interview with auto parts executive, May 2007, Samut Prakarn, Thailand.
35. Interview with ex-bureaucrat, April 2007, Bangkok.
36. Sondhi Limthongkul made this statement several times in his "Muang Thai Rai Sapda" TV program during 2005-06.
37. Farmers' Debt Moratorium and the Village Fund were aimed at alleviating debt burdens and providing capital for rural poor, respectively. The Bank for the Poor, meanwhile, gives access to capital for urban poor. The 30-baht Medicare Program provides health insurance for both rural and urban poor at a very low cost, 30 baht ($0.90) per visit.
38. Baker, "Pluto-populism: Thaksin and Popular Politics," p. 128.
39. Pasuk and Baker, Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand, p. 128.
40. Modeled on the "One Village, One Product" (ison ippin) Project initiated by the Oita Prefectural government in Japan, OTOP is aimed to revitalize local economy in the countryside, the major constituencies for the Thai Rak Thai Party.
41. See Baker, "Pluto-populism: Thaksin and Popular Politics."
42. By that time, the Thai economy had surpassed the pre-crisis level.
43. See a detailed account of the political crisis in Kasian, "Toppling Thaksin," pp. 5-10.