ABSTRACT
Defining “contemporary Thailand” is elusive. What had happened in the past decades in terms of national development has caused a huge impact on today’s Thailand. The economic liberalisation and social opening up may have reinvented Thailand as a modern nation, yet its political landscape has changed little. In this introductory chapter, the author traces Thailand’s political turmoil, as a result of the revolution in 1932, through the period of authoritative reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the emergence of new political forces, particularly Thakin Shinawatra who threatened the traditional network with his own. The conflict between the two networks has cast a long shadow over the stability of Thailand.
