Organizer: and Chair: Clark D. Neher, Northern Illinois University
Discussants: Danny Unger, Georgetown University; Gary Suwannarat, Ford
Foundation; Thongchai Winichakul, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Thak
Chaloemtiarana, Cornell University; Marjorie A. Muecke, Ford Foundation; Clark
D. Neher, Northern Illinois University
Leading scholars and observers of Thai politics will present short briefings on major contemporary issues. This roundtable will focus on the important patterns and trends of modern Thai politics, emphasizing the impact of modernization on political behavior, the crucial problems facing Thai society (environment, materialism, AIDS, monarchical succession), and prospects for the future.
This is a time of severe strain on Thai politics because the Prime Minister and many of his cabinet members represent the "old" politics of corruption. Democratic-oriented intellectuals, students, and urbanites are demanding fundamental changes, while rural peoples, many military officials and powerful politicians have only disdain for democracy's weaknesses.
Thais have shown a remarkable capacity to cope with change. The beginning routinization of democratic processes, the rapid economic development for all classes, the commitment to free market forces, the successful control of birth rates, and the absence of major internal and external threats bode well for the future of the nation and the future of democracy.
At the same time, the new government must respond to severe environmental deterioration that threatens the nation's economy and value system. The gap between the rich and the poor is rising. To solve these and other problems will require more than politics as usual.