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An investigation engaged with the local history of Southern Thailand, this book displays an impressive knowledge of the region's language and culture. Its methodology will also interest historians of other parts of Southeast Asia. This monograph examines--through manuscripts preserved from the seventeenth century to the present--the historical sensibilities and mindset of rural southern Thailand. Its focus upon the particular necessarily comments upon the general study of history. Sensitive to cultural interpretation and rigorous in textual study, the text argues against a single historical truth. The way in which different communities imagine and conceive of the past yields many, varied histories. Thus, narrative is an important theme: the stories that history, culture, art, and language tell and the author's own story of her quest for history. Illustrations, Maps. ... Read more

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379-page book with extensive index, bibliography, and glossary. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2inches. Judged as the most accurate and detailed book on this subject. ... Read more

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Between November 1942 and October 1943 a force of about 60,000 prisoners of the Japanese Imperial Army were involved in the construction of a railway from Kanchanaburi in Thailand to Thanbuyayat in Burma. This text examines the Burma-Thailand railway. ... Read more

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photographs by Gerald Cubitt

Wild Thailand is the fifth volume in a series celebrating the earth'sgreat wilderness areas, illustrated by one of the world's leadingnatural history photographers. Like its companion volumes on Indonesia,India, Malaysia, and New Zealand, it is richly illustrated with over 400full-color photographs. Chapters focus on each area of the country inturn, with an emphasis on environmental threats and conservationprograms. Thailand is a country of seemingly infinite variety,containing almost every habitat variation found in tropical Asia, fromdry tropical pine forests in the mountainous north, through flood plainsin the central region, to wet evergreen forests in the steamy south. Thecoasts boast mangrove swamps and stunning coral reefs. The country alsoharbors some 27,000 flower species -- an estimated 10 percent of theworld's total -- along with over 900 bird species. It is, in effect, abiogeographic gateway through which the ecological elements of thesurronding countries have met and merged, creating a natural potpourrithat is not found anywhere else. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A pictorial journey into a world of wildlife rarely seen.
The Siamese Tiger, The Temple Terrapin, The Goral, etc. These are rare animals not ubiquitous in even the best series of National Geographic or other tantamount nature programs. Gerald Cubitt takes you into themysterious world of Thailand's inner jungles, while Belinda Stewart-Coxdoes a marvelous job in supporting each photograph with relevantdescriptive information. As a Thai, I was not even cognizant of much of thepictorial information provided by this book. It is definitely a must foranyone interested in endangered species, exotic landscapes, or the rare andexotic in general. ... Read more

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Prior to the 1997 economic crisis, for around 20 years Thai politics was characterized by a pluralistic political order, featuring unstable coalition governments, competing interests, and a gradual displacement of bureaucratic and military influence by the rising power of elected politicians (who in turn were closely linked to a range of business actors). A major reform package was enacted in 1997, coinciding with the promulgation of a new constitution. However, the country's financial problems helped create the conditions for the emergence of the Thai Rak Thai (Thais love Thai, or TRT) Party under the leadership of Thaksin Shinawatra, a fabulously wealthy telecommunications magnate often compared with Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. Although presenting itself as a nationalist, transformative party, at heart TRT is little more than a vehicle for the interests and ambitions of its founder-leader. Since winning a landslide election victory in January 2001, Prime Minister Thaksin has exercised an extraordinary degree of personal dominance over the Thai political scene.The emergence of Thaksin and TRT has transformed Thailand's electoral landscape, rendering previous analyses of Thai politics substantially outdated. This book examines Thaksin's background, his business activities, the emergence of Thai Rak Thai, his relationship with the military, Thaksin's use of rhetoric through media such as radio, his wider political economy networks, and the future direction of Thai politics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thaksin Shinawatra
Authors Ukrist Pathmanand and Duncan McCargo provide a perfectly
timed and well written book that concisely and directly presents the facts.The authors immediately note this isn't a political biography of Thaksin Shinawatra.There is a lot of information in this book about his background, businesses, and political life.

The "Thaksinization of Thailand" focuses on 5 elements:

1.Telecommunications business.
2.Thai Rak Thai political party.
3.Thaksin's use of language and media.
4.The re-politicization of the military.
5.Creation of the new political economy.

Telecom Business:

Many details are noted and sourced. Prominent, is the Shin Company, which earned enormous profits and attained major growth after the passing of the Telecommunications Services Act.This Act restricted foreign ownership to 25% which aided Shin, while simultaneously squeezing Shin's competitors.In the Thai telecom business and South East Asia in general, there is a "love-hate" relationship with foreign capital.Wanting to curtail it, despising it, while at the same time critically dependent upon it.Playing it both ways, is an old and contemporary form of split personalities, and old style
politics.

I'm curious that this book origins of Shinawatra's rise to power in the telecom business didn't include his biggest move: Thanksin's joint venture with American William L. Monson in the 1980s.Thaksin violated the agreement, stole Monson's equipment, had police raid his office, and arrest his manager and staff and file criminal charges (which were later dropped because they were a farce).Another trial date is set for September of 2006 relating to this.

TRT Party:

The Thai Rak Thai political party founded by Shinawatra successfully used (and still uses) a mass marketing approach now utilized in Thailand and other nation-states of the world.The roots of this approach and these methods are traced to U.S. and UK.

TRT is very adept at organization and became the main political party by not only isolating the main opposition party (Democrats) but by also co-opting (absorbing) other MPs from the Democratic party and the other lessor parties (e.g. Chart Thai, Chart Pattana, etc.).

The Use Of Language And The Media (and the party platform):

Utilization of language and media was and is a critical arm of the "political platform."Three of the major points of the TRT platform were: 1) A moratorium on farmers' debts2)A million Baht fund for every village and 3) 30 Baht Health Insurance plan.

The creation of the People's bank or "bank for the poor" offered
Business Development Loans allowed for low interest loans and
maximum 15,000 Baht borrowing limit.Solidifying this crucial base.

These were one of the many "actions" that Thaksin and his advisor Pansak partook to gain support.These actions were emphasized more than ideological "thinking."


2006 Tipping point:

The Tipping Point in 2006: the Shin stock sale to Temasek, via Ample Rich.

This dubious financial deal was the Tipping Point that led to his resignation in early April, of 2006.As a result of mass protests Thaksin dissolved Parliament and held a snap election because it was the most prudent political move he could make, and it was the best way save himself, as criminal charges were likely to be filed. The Shin deal was the breaking point.It highlighted the fact that many governmental policies gave special treatment and benefit to Shin since Shinawatra's ascension.A schism between the rural poor (primarily in the north) and residents of Bangkok over the "caretaker."

The "Thaksinization of Thailand" does a very good job in synopsizing the history of Thai politics up and through the rise of TRT and Thaskin up to 2005.A helpful book for those that want to know some of the basics of the Thai political system.

Although Thaksin is not officially at the helm, he's a force.
Hopefully those that succeed him can do what's best for the Thai
people and Thailand.Where is Thailand's economy headed with high consumer debts and competition from its neighbor to the east?

This is a great book that's a quick and has lots of current
information and a great bibliography.
... Read more

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Late in 1940, the young men of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment stepped off the trucks at Camp Bowie in Brownwood, Texas, ready to complete the training they would need for active duty in World War II. Many of them had grown up together in Jacksboro, Texas, and almost all of them were eager to face any challenge. Just over a year later, these carefree young Texans would be confronted by horrors they could never have imagined.

The battalion was en route to bolster the Allied defense of the Philippines when they received news of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Soon, they found themselves ashore on Java, with orders to assist the Dutch, British, and Australian defense of the island against imminent Japanese invasion. When war came to Java in March 1942, the Japanese forces overwhelmed the numerically inferior Allied defenders in little more than a week.

For more than three years, the Texans, along with the sailors and marines who survived the sinking of the USS Houston, were prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army. Beginning in late 1942, these prisoners-of-war were shipped to Burma to accelerate completion of the Burma-Thailand railway. These men labored alongside other Allied prisoners and Asian conscript laborers to build more than 260 miles of railroad for their Japanese taskmasters. They suffered abscessed wounds, near-starvation, daily beatings, and debilitating disease, and 89 of the original 534 Texans taken prisoner died in the infested, malarial jungles. The survivors received a hero's welcome from Gov. Coke Stevenson, who declared October 29, 1945, as "Lost Battalion Day" when they finally returned to Texas.

Kelly E. Crager consulted official documentary sources of the National Archives and the U.S. Army and mined the personal memoirs and oral history interviews of the "Lost Battalion" members. He focuses on the treatment the men received in their captivity and surmises that a main factor in the battalion's comparatively high survival rate (84 percent of the 2nd Battalion) was the comradery of the Texans and their commitment to care for each other.

This narrative is grueling, yet ultimately inspiring. Hell under the Rising Sun will be a valuable addition to the collections of World War II historians and interested general readers alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Adds a new dimension to the story
I agree with the other reviewer that there is a certain "something" missing from this narrative and that the story would have been enriched if the author had not relied solely on secondary sources.Having said that, this book fills in a lot of the gaps in the story of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery and their experience as the "Lost Battalion."The details on their pre-war experiences after being federalized and the story covering their journey across the Pacific and into combat on Java is well detailed.This is a story that deserves to better known and I appreciate the author doing his part.

Good Story - Not Quite Up to Par
I've probably read 50 - 60 books, mostly autobiographies, about POWS of World War II. Some are self-published, some are best-sellers, some are excellently written and some struggle. The story of our young men and what they had to endure, mostly at the hands of the Japanese is inspiring. Hell Under the Rising Sun had an interesting quirk to it, the fact that this was a Texas National Guard artillery unit, many of them had grown up together, got called up and then were captured almost before they even got into the war. I'm glad Kelly Crager elected to do this story. I feel, however, the book lacks SOMETHING although it's hard to figure out. There's a lot of redundancy, telling the reader the same thing several times such as "this camp is worse than the last one". After we've been told that once, we don't need to keep being reminded.I caught myself skipping over much of it. I never felt I really got "close" to the men the story was about. I think it might have helped if Mr Crager had been able to interview any remaining survivors himself to get a better feel. I also felt as if Mr Crager dwelt a little too much on the popular belief today that veterans never recover from their service during war time. The things these men went through was horrendous but research has actually proven that almost all returned to long, active, productive lives. I would have l liked to have more of that aspect pointed out. Also, and the most disturbing, I don't think I've ever read a book about POWs where there wasn't some mention of their faith in God.In the nearly 60 books I have in my library on this subject, I believe the men's religious faith is mentioned in all of them. That was such a part of the lives of families in the 1930's and 40's that I wonder why it wasn't even mentioned among the Texas boys or was it something not deemed necessary to include by the writer, the editor or whomever at least once or twice. Reading through the book I suspect this was a dissertation for an advance degree rather than an urgency to tell the story of the men. It was somewhat well researched (note the pages and pages of notes and bibliography but with no interviews by Mr Crager himself), awkward to read but I'm still glad Mr Crager put the words to paper. It did leave me with an urge to edit though! I would recommend it to anyone who had a friend or family member in the 131st Field Artillery Regiment or the USS Houston, you need to know all you can. ... Read more

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examines Thai-Chinese relations, dating back to the first Thai dynasty (Sukhothai) to the present (Ratanakosin). The study explores the Thai domestic policies that have affected the Chinese population since World War II and assimilation policies of the Thai government towards the Chinese. This book also analyzes both Skinner's and Chan and Tong's arguments, and their main idea in the context of the present day environment and situation for the ethnic Chinese. This research supports the Skinnerian paradigm, which asserts that "a majority of the descendants of Chinese immigrants in each generation merge with Thai society and become indistinguishable from the indigenous population to the extent that fourth-generation Chinese are practically non-existent." The validation of the Skinnerian paradigm rejects Chan and Tong's hypothesis, which claims that Skinner has "overemphasized the forces of assimilation" and that the Chinese in Thailand have not assimilated but retained their Chinese identity. To support Skinner's assertion and reject Chan and Tong's argument, this book presents rich empirical data collected via surveys conducted with the ethnic Chinese in Thailand from 2003-2004. This study uncovers that the forces of assimilation occur at two levels. On the first level, the Chinese in Thailand possess natural attributes which facilitate social and cultural integration and assimilation into Thai society. On the second level, government pro-assimilation policies, driven by the bilateral relations between Thailand and China and the political situation in both countries, are also responsible for the assimilation of the Chinese in Thailand. As the most current in-depth study on the Chinese in Thailand, The Chinese Émigrés of Thailand in the Twentieth Century is a critical addition for all collections in Asian Studies as well as Ethnic and Immigrant Studies. ... Read more

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The rapid growth in Thai archaeology in the last decade has introduced areas of study that are virgin territory. The study of the ceramics from excavations and survey sites have been the author's responsibility. This volume, based on his thesis, provides the latest discussion of the pottery with special reference to the site at Ban Na Di. ... Read more