Thailand Unhinged: The Death of Thai-Style Democracy delivers an excoriating critique of Thai politics and society over the tumultuous years that followed the ouster of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand's ongoing political crisis is explained through the prism of the country's painful post-absolutist history - a history marred by the systematic sabotage of any meaningful democratic development, the routine hijacking of democratic institutions, and the continued suffocation of the Thai people's democratic aspirations orchestrated by an unelected ruling class in an increasingly desperate attempt to hold on to its power.
This new edition, uncensored, expanded, and revised, argues that the tragic events of 2010 mark the end of "Thai-Style Democracy" - a five-decades-old system of government that, notwithstanding the appropriation of some of the trappings of democracy, has largely preserved the right of "good" men of high birth, status, and wealth to run the country. The essays are written in a pointed, combative style, making Thailand Unhinged a highly unconventional mix of academic scholarship, literary journalism, and radical pamphleteering.
IN PRAISE OF THE FIRST EDITION
Written by an extremely talented Harvard PhD journalist/professor, this well-crafted collection of essays illuminate[s] magnificently the tragedy of Thailand today. Trenchant and continually blistering. -Tom Plate, author of the bestselling Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew
FEDERICO FERRARA (PhD, Harvard University) works as Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, Department of Asian and International Studies.