Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, A History of Thailand (4th ed), Cambridge University Press, 2022, 406 pages, US$31.99 paperback.
A History of Thailand by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit continues the streamlined focus of the authors in analyzing history in an unsanitized manner and breaking from conventionally rooted perspectives, often sanctioned by the State. The fourth edition contains an additional chapter, helping readers to contextualise the tumultuous nature of modern Thai politics from the 2006 coup until the 2019 elections. Baker and Phongpaichat are widely considered to be among the most authoritative voices on Thailand’s history—being formally recognized with the Fukuoka Grand Prize in 2017 for their contributions to Asian culture. Despite the book being heavily grounded and supported by academic materials and research, the style of the book caters to both specialist and general readers. Compared to David K. Wyatt’s Thailand: A Short History, this book is more accessible to anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of the country, its history, and the nature of geopolitics in the region.
Baker and Phongpaichit’s work does not conform to the dominant narratives which prevailed in the State sanctioned literature of the twentieth century from Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, Luang Wichitwathakan, and their successors. The notion of a continuous and singular Thai identity is systematically contested and challenged from the opening line, “The name Thailand was invented in 1939” (Baker & Phongpaichit 2022, p. 1). The opening chapters demystify the conceptions of ancient Thai unity and statehood engineered by benevolent kings and draws attention to the structural changes and amalgamation that resulted in societal progression. Thailand was previously known as Siam and its borders were only drawn in the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.
The Mandala System and Thai Empires
The authors situate Thailand in the broader context of the region detailing how the mandala system was in effect, whereby small towns known as mueangs made up much of the ancient world with power expanding outwards from a dominant centre. Power was not measured by the extent of territory but by how many dependent rulers were subordinate to a particular centre. The subordination was characterized by hostage exchange, annual tributes, and marriage, which allowed the rulers of smaller mueangs to pledge their allegiance while remaining in command. The authors also point to how large waves of migration helped create a pluralistic ethnography as the region consisted of Mon, Khmer, Lao, Karen, Chinese traders, and Malay seafarers in contrast to the patriotic viewpoint which favors ethnic essentialism.
The rise and 1767 fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom is treated critically and not primarily through the lens of Thai victimhood and Burmese invasions as is reproduced in nationalist discourse. The authors position Ayutthaya as a globalized seventeenth century entrepôt with diasporas from Persia, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and more, making up large numbers of the population. It was cosmopolitan, not purely Thai. The Court was also a product of global influences from Persia, Portugal, and the Khmer Empire, and the monarchy’s ritual system was heavily inspired by Indian and Khmer customs.
The authors argue that the fall of the empire was rooted in Ayutthaya’s demographic, economic, and military overstretch with many Siamese refusing to fight. At the same time, they present a more nuanced understanding of Buddhism during this period and its evolution into modern statehood. The concept of thammaracha (righteous king) was a political tool, not intrinsically linked to Thai culture.
Baker and Phongpaichit make it imperative for readers to understand that labor was the most important resource in pre-modern society. Slavery was commonplace and helped maintain economies across different empires. Warfare resulted in seizing people rather than land. The reforms in the late nineteenth century were a result of collapsing labor systems rather than the popular tale of King Chulalongkorn abolishing slavery for progressive ideologies.
Modernization Without Democracy
Modern Thailand was created out of a mix of colonial pressures, rising capitalism, and the commercialization of agricultural practices. The authors argue that the process of modernization that Thailand underwent was superficial in the sense that it was not about democratization—but rather about maintaining control through the creation of new institutions which had a tight grip on who entered the political framework.
The book traces this contested nature of political power though the different groups—monarchists, military commanders, bureaucrats, Chinese merchants, rural communities, urban laborers, and students—who struggled over the meaning of the State. It gives credence to different social movements and rectifies perceptions in charting its democratic path. The 1932 revolution which has been passed down generations through academic curricula as a celebration of the birth of constitutionalism has been re-examined as a shift from royal absolutism to a military-bureaucratic oligarchy. Nationalism in the 1930s and 1940s, largely seen as a natural progression of Thai sentiment, is viewed as a diverse set of competing ideologies.
The authors contend that methods of maintaining control during times of political volatility, such as the dissemination of anti-Chinese propaganda which had become a staple of the Phibun era, the aggressive nationalism of the 1940s, and the later Cold War anti-communist propaganda, are not inevitable outcomes of Thai culture, but should attributed to the ruling class.
U.S. Hegemony Since the Cold War
The book’s interpretation of the Cold War era is significant in understanding the U.S. role in the region at the time. Especially in how the United States empowered the military, revived the monarchy’s political role, and entrenched an authoritarian developmental state, by framing the agenda of “protecting Thailand from communism,” as Thai conservative narratives often claim. The Thai military became the central institution not because of cultural traits, but because American money, weapons, and training made it so. In acting as a counterweight to growing communism in the region, justifications were provided for surveillance, censorship, and repression, and for presenting the military and monarchy as the only institutions capable of maintaining independence and stability. The coalition between monarchy and military provides the framework for understanding present Thai politics with modern coups in 1991, 2006, and 2014 using the same logic to justify the rise of authoritarianism to quell mass public movements.
Baker and Phongpaichit show how globalization, urbanization, migration, and education dismantled the paternalistic social order that Cold War ideologues assumed was permanent. The 1980s saw the rise of the rural population from isolation into the mainstream markets as integrated citizens who were not content with merely being peasants. They traveled for work, consumed mass media, and leveraged their growing role to demand political transformations. The old model of political control—village isolation, patronage networks, and ideological consensus—collapsed.
The book’s account of the Thaksin era is especially effective. Rather than focusing on corruption scandals or personal ambition, Baker and Phongpaichit situate Thaksin in the long history of Thailand’s evolving political economy. His electoral success was not simply a matter of populist gestures—it was the first time that the aspirations of rural and provincial voters were addressed, after long being excluded from any political framework. Thaksin’s politics threatened a changing of the guard—an opposition to the longstanding military–monarchy network that exerted political control since the 1950s.
Overall, the book offers readers a comprehensive understanding for linking Thailand’s ongoing instability with its past. The evolution of the State, construction of national identity, and transformation of society is explored through nuanced perspectives and not binary outcomes. The fourth edition provides a holistic perspective which acknowledges its limitations in going too far in depth on certain pivotal events in the nation’s history, but it is still essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand Thailand as it really is, not as official narratives portray it.
Aurko Chakrabarti is an Applied Geopolitical Researcher at the Advanced Study Institute of Asia, where he has worked since the organization’s founding, and he currently serves as the editor of the quarterly Decypher Journal. He began his professional career in 2022 as a Narrative Designer at the Sanrachna Foundation, following an internship with the Economic Times in 2020 and earlier volunteer work in Kolkata. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication from Swansea University. With more than three years of research experience, Aurko contributes to the Institute’s De/Cypher newsletter and supports a range of research projects and collaborations.
