Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1977

Keywords

Northeastern Thailand, Politics and government

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Arthur K. Smith

Second Advisor

Richard H. Dekmejian

Third Advisor

Walter O. Filley

Abstract

In the process of political development and modernization, an “identity crisis” occurs when members of a distinct community discover that what they had once unquestionably regarded as the physical and psychological definitions of their collective selves are no longer acceptable under newly-emerging historical conditions and changes. This is exactly the case of Northeast Thailand following the Administrative Reforms of King Chulalongkorn and the subsequent “takeovers” of the regional power base and the local political structure by Bangkok officials. The suppression of the Isan political identity, the brutal executions of the outspoken Isan political elites and the continued neglect of the Northeast’s demand for equal economic development and political integration by successive Bangkok military regimes have effectively changed these regional grievances into large-scale Communist insurgent activities which inevitably became critical with the U.S. intervention and the “spill-over” of the Indochina war into the region. In order to solve this “Northeastern Problem,” the Thai ruling regime must realize that the “identity Crisis” is, in fact, a phase of political growth and an essential stage of modernization, which a political system must inevitably experience whenever its basic forms are substantially changed. It is certainly a sign of growth and change, not of weakness or abnormality.

The author's interest in the problem of the Northeast and its potential threat to Thailand’s national security and territorial integration goes back for many years. Attempts to gather data and information on this subject matter have preoccupied her throughout the long years of graduate studies in the United States. In fact, the research for this dissertation originated in several research projects in which the author became involved during the pursuit of degrees both at the School of International Service at the American University in Washington, D.C. and at the Department of Political Science at S.U.N.Y., Binghamton.

Unfortunately, the sensitivity of the subject matter, especially the problem of Communist insurgency and the ethnic identity of the Isan villagers, has caused great difficulty in conducting research as well as in the attempt to acquire reliable data and empirical information. In addition, the extreme secrecy involved in the process of decision-making and the formulation and execution of the Thai foreign policy—i.e., the conclusion of secret treaties and agreements between the governments of Thailand and the U.S.—which characterized the administration of the Thanom-Prapas regimes have made it difficult to assess their impact on the development of the Northeast and its relationship to the budding Communist-inspired insurgency in the area. Despite having to face these shortcomings, the author has, to the best of her ability, attempted to evaluate and to analyze the problem with frank and logical interpretations acquired from applying theoretical analyses in the field of political development and modernization with a mass of data and information gathered both in the U.S. and in Thailand, coupled with empirical observation and reasoned inferences.

The standard transliteration of Thai words used in this dissertation is adapted from Mary Hass’s system, as well as from the “General System of Phonetic Transcription of Thai Characters into Roman” as devised by the Royal Thai Institute in Bangkok. As for the Thai and Lao names of people and places, the basic transliteration commonly used in Western literatures has been applied to prevent unnecessary confusion.

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