Political Authority and Provincial Identity in Thailand

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A01=Yoshinori Nishizaki
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Yoshinori Nishizaki
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Bangkok elite
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJF
Category=JPA
Category=JPHV
Category=JPQB
Category=JPZ
Category=KCP
Category=NHF
Contemporary democracy in Thailand
COP=United States
Cornell University
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
eq_business-finance-law
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Grassroots realities
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
Rural Thai voters
softlaunch
Suphanburi province

Product details

  • ISBN 9780877277538
  • Weight: 907g
  • Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
  • Publication Date: 17 Mar 2011
  • Publisher: Cornell University Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Paperback
  • Language: English
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The powerful Thai politician Banharn Silpa-archa has been disparaged as a corrupt operator who for years channeled excessive state funds into developing his own rural province. This book reinterprets Banharm's career and offers a detailed portrait of the voters who support him. Relying on extensive interviews, the author shows how Banharm's constituents have developed a strong provincial identity based on their pride in his advancement of their province, Suphanburi, which many now call "Banharm-buri," the place of Banharm. Yoshinori Nishizaki's analysis challenges simplistic perceptions of rural Thai voters and raises vital questions about contemporary democracy in Thailand.

Yoshinori Nishizaki's close and thorough examination of the numerous public construction projects sponsored and even personally funded by Banharn clearly illustrates this politician’s canny abilities and tireless, meticulous oversight of his domain. Banharn’s constituents are aware that Suphanburi was long considered a "backward" province by other Thais—notably the Bangkok elite. Suphanburians hold the neglectful central government responsible for their province’s former sorry condition and humiliating reputation. Banharn has successfully identified himself as the antithesis to the inefficient central state by promoting rapid "development" and advertising his own role in that development through well-publicized donations, public ceremonies, and visits to the sites of new buildings and highways.

Much standard literature on rural politics and society in Thailand and other democratizing countries in Southeast Asia would categorize this politician as a typical "strongman," the boss of a semiviolent patronage network that squeezes votes out of the people. That standard analysis would utterly fail to recognize and understand the grassroots realities of Suphanburi that Nishizaki has captured in his study. This compassionate, well-grounded analysis challenges simplistic perceptions of rural Thai voters and raises vital questions about contemporary democracy in Thailand.

Yoshinori Nishizaki is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore.