While monarchical succession in the modern western world has little impact on daily politics, the accession of King Rama X has profoundly affected Thai society in previously unimagined ways. This book boldly undertakes the task of outlining the changes to power structures in the new reign, whether these affect parliamentary politics, peoples’ politics, political rights and freedoms or even cultural politics.
Join us for a lecture by Pavin Chachavalpongpun followed by a panel discussion during which outstanding scholars who are contributors to the book and experts in their field will discuss the changes to the Thai monarchy and the root causes of the political turbulence of the past few decades.
The book will also be launched on the day with a reception before the lecture.
For more information about the book, click here.
Speaker:
Pavin Chachavalpongpun is Associate Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. He is the chief editor of the online journal Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia in which all articles are translated from English into Japanese, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Filipino, Vietnamese and Burmese. His forthcoming book, as editor, is titled Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn and will be released in Summer by Yale University.
Panelists:
Michael Ruffles is the Chief Sub-Editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. Along with investigations editor Michael Evans, he wrote an award-winning series of articles exposing a former Thai cabinet minister's drug charges and jail time. He was chief sub-editor of the Bangkok Post Sunday and its acclaimed Spectrum section from 2013 to the end of 2016.
Gregory Raymond is a lecturer in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs researching Southeast Asian politics and foreign relations. He is the author of Thai Military Power: A Culture of Strategic Accommodation (NIAS Press 2018) and the lead author of The United States-Thai Alliance: History, Memory and Current Developments (Routledge, 2021).
Moderator:
Sarah Bishop is a PhD candidate within the ANU College of Law undertaking research on Thai Constitutional Law focusing on court interpretation of constitutional rights provisions. Sarah's primary area of research interest is Asian law, with a particular focus on Thai public law. Her previous research has focused on areas in which the country's newly established public law courts have been particularly active―political party regulation and environmental regulation.