Sponsors: The Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC), the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), and the New York Southeast Asia Network (NYSEAN).

Series: Thailand Social Science Seminar Series

Description:

Join Associate Professor Wasana Wongsurawat (Chulalongkorn University) as she discusses long-time Sinophile Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's role in bolstering ties between Thailand and the People's Republic of China.
Thailand is the only country in the Asia-Pacific rim that managed to de-democratize following the wave of democratization that swept across the region in the 1990s. An important factor contributing to this was the conservative elite’s ability to acquire a new external superpower patron—the People’s Republic of China—in support of undemocratic regimes in Southeast Asia once US influence had receded at the conclusion of the Cold War. The clientelistic relationship between the PRC and Thailand has been in the making since the 1970s and has been spearheaded by the conservatives all along. Since the 1990s, HRH Sirindhorn has become the most important personality in the promotion of PRC-Thai relations. This has been an important factor contributing to the legitimacy and stability of the undemocratic regime of Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha since the 2014 coup and a key concern of the pro-democracy Milk Tea Alliance that has emerged in 2020.

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