Tracks and Traces: Thailand and the Work of Andrew Turton (AUP - ICAS Publications)

164 Pages·2011·4.39 MB·English

by  Philip Hirsch

Thailand and the Work of Thailand and the
Publications Series
Edited Volumes 13
Andrew Turton Work of Andrew Tur-
Philip Hirsch is Professor of Human Geography at
the University of Sydney and has published widely
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on issues of environment and social and economic ra
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development in Thailand and neighbouring countries. ks
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Nicholas Tapp is Professor of Anthropology at the n
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Australian National University and has published on the T
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Hmong minority peoples of Thailand and the region. c
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Tracks and Traces: Thailand and the Work of Andrew H
Thailand and the Work
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Turton traces the threads that tie together an s
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understanding of Thailand as a dynamic and rapidly | T of Andrew Turton
changing society, through an examination of the a
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work of one major scholar of the country, Andrew (
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Turton. Turton’s anthropological studies of Thailand d Edited by
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cover a wide spectrum from politics and economy .) Philip Hirsch and Nicholas Tapp
to ritual and culture, and have been crucial in
shaping evolving understandings of Thai society.
In this collection, ten leading specialists on Thailand
from a variety of disciplines critically consider aspects
of Turton’s work in relation to the changing nature
of different aspects of Thai society. The book tracks
the links between past and present scholarship,
examines the contextuality of scholarship in its times,
and sheds light on the current situation in Thailand.
“This collection takes Andrew Turton’s extensive scholarship as a lens to
evaluate a wide range of issues in Thai studies. It shows admirably how
one scholar’s influence transcends a generation, helping understand
the present through the past.”
Thongchai Winichakul, Professor of Southeast Asian History,
University of Wisconsin
“This important book is theoretically engaged, grounded in
contemporary issues and reflective of a critical approach to Thai studies
that demands the attention of the current generation of scholars.”
Kevin Hewison, Professor of Asian Studies, University of North Carolina

9 789089 642493
www.aup.nl ISBN 978 90 8964 249 3
Tracks and Traces
Publications Series
GeneralEditor
PaulvanderVelde
PublicationsOfficer
MartinavandenHaak
EditorialBoard
WimBoot(LeidenUniversity);JenniferHoldaway(SocialScienceResearchCoun-
cil);ChristopherA.Reed(TheOhioStateUniversity);AnandA.Yang(Directorof
the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and Chair of International
Studies at the University of Washington); Guobin Yang (Barnard College, Colum-
biaUniversity).
The ICAS Publications Series consists of Monographs and Edited Volumes. The
Series takes a multidisciplinary approach to issues of interregional and multilat-
eralimportanceforAsiainaglobalcontext.TheSeriesaimstostimulatedialogue
amongst scholars and civil society groups at the local, regional and international
levels.
TheInternationalConventionofAsiaScholars(ICAS)wasfoundedin1997.Itsmain
goals are to transcend the boundaries between disciplines, between nations stu-
died, andbetween the geographic origins of the Asia scholars involved. ICAS has
grownintothelargestbiennialAsiastudieseventcoveringallsubjectsofAsiastu-
dies. So far five editions of ICAS have been held respectively in Leiden (1998),
Berlin(2001),Singapore(2003),Shanghai(2005),KualaLumpur(2007)andDae-
jeon,SouthKorea(2009).ICAS7willbeheldinHonolulufrom30March-3April
2011.
In 2001 the ICAS secretariat was founded which guarantees the continuity of the
ICASprocess.In2004theICASBookPrize(IBP)wasestablishedinordertocre-
atebywayofaglobalcompetitionbothaninternationalfocusforpublicationson
Asia while at the same time increasing their visibility worldwide. Also in 2005
theICASPublicationsSerieswereestablished.
Formoreinformation:www.icassecretariat.org
Tracks and Traces
Thailand and the Work of
Andrew Turton
Edited by
Philip Hirsch and Nicholas Tapp
Publications Series
Edited Volumes 13
Cover design:JB&A raster grafisch ontwerp, Westland
Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere
ISBN 978 90 8964 249 3
e-ISBN 978 90 4851 2874
NUR 761
© ICAS / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2010
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright re-
served above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or in-
troduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)
without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the
authorof the book.
Table of Contents
List ofTables, Figures,and Photographs 7
Acknowledgements 9
Introduction 11
Philip Hirsch andNicholas Tapp
1 OpeningReflections:Northeastern Thai Ethnoregionalism
Updated 17
Charles Keyes
2 Transforming Agrarian Transformation in a Globalizing
Thailand 29
Anan GanjanapanandPhilipHirsch
3 Local Leaders and the State in Thailand 39
Paul T. Cohen
4 Roots of OngoingConflict:Reflections onAndrew Turton’s
Analysisof Thailand in the 1970s 47
Jim Glassman
5 Censorshipand AuthoritativeForms of Discourse:
A Reconsideration of Thai Constructions ofKnowledge 59
Nicholas Tapp
6 ‘Modernising Subjects’:Moral-PoliticalContests in
Thailand’sDrive Toward Modernity 75
Jamaree Chiengthong
7 An Early CriticalForayinto Participation in Thailand 89
JonathanRigg
6 TABLEOFCONTENTS
8 Thai Institutionsof Slavery:TheirEconomicand
CulturalSetting 103
Craig J. Reynolds
9 British DiplomaticMissions to Tai States in the Early
Modern Period:A Reappraisal 115
Volker Grabowsky
Appendix: Andrew Turton – A Select Bibliography 127
Notes onContributors 133
References 137
Index 153
List of Tables, Figures, and Photographs
Tables
Table 7.1 LinkingTurton’sparticipation types to other
typologies 91
Table 7.2 Participation and Thailand’snational
development plans (1982-2006) 92
Figures
Figure 7.1 GDPeconomicgrowthand poverty, Thailand
(1962-2009) 94
Figure 7.2 Povertyin Thailand 95
Photographs
SOAS conference group picture,1988 10
Turton kneelingwai-inga spirit-medium, 1976 46
Turton dancing with Thaiwomanin Lumpini, 1May 1976 58
Farewell party for Turton, 1970 88
Kengtung: Sawbwa’shaw orpalace, c. 1890 126

Acknowledgements
We would first like to acknowledge the kind assistance and collabora-
tion of Craig Reynolds, senior historian of classic and modern Thai stu-
dies, who helped to organise the conference panel at which these pa-
pers first emerged. While ploughing an independent path, Reynolds’
research trajectory has several times intersected with Turton’s in a mu-
tually respectful and sympathetic way, and Thai studies has greatly
benefited from such accommodations across disciplines and world
views.
We should like to thank the Australian National University and the
University of Sydney for facilitating our attendance at the conference
where the majority of these papers were originally presented. We also
pay respects to Thammasat University which, with its well-deserved re-
putation for liberal views, welcomed this panel together with others
dealing with such subjects as the free press and the role of the monar-
chy in Thailand at atime ofconsiderable political turmoil and unrest.
We should thank all those who participated in this panel and contrib-
uted papers later, who despite their very varied academic, political and
disciplinary backgrounds, felt able to contribute simultaneously to stu-
dies of Andrew Turton’s work and studies of Thailand. A debt of grati-
tude is owed to Professor Paritta Chalermpow Koantakool, Director of
the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropological Centre in Thai-
land, who acted as moderator for our opening discussions. That willing-
ness to participate is in itself a huge tribute to the importance of An-
drew Turton’s work on Thailand, and in a sense demonstrates the inex-
tricability of his contributions to the modern development of Thai
studies.
Of course our tributes are due above all to Andrew, who without ever
wishing to be elevated to some pedagogical position of authority, has
nevertheless encouraged and enabled so many Thai and non-Thai stu-
dents in critically appraising the dynamic nature of Thai society in a
global era.Inthisrespect,theeditorsofthisvolumeoweacareer-length
vote ofthanks to our respected Achaan.
Philip Hirsch andNicholas Tapp