This volume examines contemporary Thailand. It captures aspects of Thai society that have changed dramatically over the past years and that have turned Thailand into a society that is different from what most people outside the country know and expect. The social transition of Thailand has been marked by economic growth, population restructuring, social and cultural development, political movements, and many reforms including the national health care system. The book covers the social, cultural, and economic changes as well as political situations. It discusses both historical contexts and emerging issues. It includes chapters on social and public health concerns, and on ethnicity, gender, sexuality and social class. Most chapters use information from empirical-based and historical research. They describe real life experiences of the contributors and Thai people who participated in the research.

Autorentext
Pranee Liamputtong holds a Personal Chair in Public Health at the School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Pranee has previously taught in the School of Sociology and Anthropology and worked as a public health research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Mothers' and Children's Health (now Mothers and Child Health Research), La Trobe University. Pranee's particular interests include issues related to cultural and social influences on childbearing, childrearing, and women's reproductive and sexual health. Pranee has two daughters. Pranee has published several books and a large number of papers in these areas. These include: Maternity and Reproductive Health in Asian Societies (with Lenore Manderson, Harwood Academic Press, 1996); Asian Mothers, Western Birth (Ausmed Publications, 1999); Living in a New Country: Understanding Migrants' Health (Ausmed Publications, 1999); Hmong Women and Reproduction (Bergin & Garvey, 2000); Coming of Age in South and Southeast Asia: Youth, Courtship and Sexuality (with Lenore Manderson, Curzon Press, 2002); Health, Social Change and Communities (with Heather Gardner, Oxford University Press, 2003). Her more recent books include Reproduction, Childbearing and Motherhood: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Nova Science Publishers, 2007); Childrearing and Infant Care Issues: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Nova Science Publishers, 2007); The Journey of Becoming a Mother amongst Thai Women in Northern Thailand (Lexington Books, 2007); Population, Community, and Health.

Inhalt

Introduction; Pranee Liamputtong.- Part 1 Thailand and Current Socio-Cultural Issues.- Chapter 1. Redefining Thainess: Embracing Diversity, Preserving Unity; Suwilai Premsrirat.- Chapter 2. The Giant Swing (Lo Ching Cha): Brahmanical Origins and its Significance to the Religious Culture of Thailand; Willard G. Van De Bogart.- Chapter 3: Thai amulets: Symbol of the Practice of Multi Faiths and Cultures; Sophana Srichampa.- Chapter 4. Thai Buddhist Temples: A Religious Capital Approach for Preparing Thailand towards the Aging Society; Saowapa Pornsiripongse, Kwanchit Sasiwongsaroj and Patcharin Ketjamnong.- Chapter 5. Beyond a Localities: Community Development and Network Construction Among the Buddhist Monks in Northern Thailand; Mayumi Okabe.- Chapter 6: Hegemonic English, Standard Thai and Voices From a Margin: Self-Marginalization in Thailand; Adcharawan Buripakdi.- Chapter 7. Digital Revolution and its Discontents: Thai Underground Metal Scene and their Love-Hate Relationshipwith New Technologies; Athip Jittarerk.- Chapter 8. The 'Thawiphop' Phenomenon: Reimagining Nationalism in a Contemporary Thai Novel and Its Stage and Screen Adaptions; Morakot Jewachinda Meyer.- Chapter 9. Relatedness: Capitalism and the Traditional Village Economy; Ratana Tosakul.- Part 2. Political Aspects in Thailand Today.- Chapter 10: Party-Social Movement Coalition in Thailand's Political Conflict (2005-2011); Aim Sinpeng.- Chapter 11. 'For King and Country': The Yellow Shirts of Thailand; Allan Lee.- Chapter 12. **The Vulnerability of Thai Democracy: Coups d'Etate and Political Changes in Modern Thailand; Pei-Hsiu Chen.- Chapter 13. Politics and the City: Protest, Memory and Contested Issues in Bangkok; Serhat Uenaldi.- Chapter 14. The Politics of Change in Thai Cities: The Urban Poor as Development Catalysts; Diane Archer.- Part 3. Ethnic Issues in Contemporary Thailand.- Chapter 15. Language and Cultural Rights in the Ethnic Revival Movement of the Black Tai in Khaoyoi, Petchaburi; Sumittra Suraratdecha.- Chapter 16. Lahu Students in Thai schools: The Cases of Som and Noi; Matthew R. Juelsgaard.- Chapter 17. Rural-Urban Migration and Ethnic Minority Enterprise; Alexander Trupp.- Part 4. Contemporary Gender and Queer Perspectives.- Chapter 18. Learning to Look Good: Thai Women Office Workers and Everyday Consumption Practices at Work; Kosum Omphornuwat.- Chapter 19. Thai daughters, English Wives: A Critical Ethnography of Transnational Lives; Chantanee Charoensri.- Chapter 20. The Expat Life with a Thai Wife: Thailand as an Imagined Space of Masculine Transformation; Megan Lafferty and Kristen Hill Maher.- Chapter 21. Women NGOs Movement for Fighting Against Domestic Violence; Suangsurang Mitsamphanta.- Chapter 22. Women's Agency in the Malay Muslim Communities of Southern Thailand; Andrea K. Molnar.- Chapter 23. Trafficking and Coerced Prostitution in Thailand: Re-Conceptualizing International Law in the Age of Globalization; Erin Kamler.- Chapter 24. Gender and Buddhism in the Wake of the Tsumani; Monica Lindberg Falk.- Chapter 25. Not Yet Queer Enough: Revising 'Gender' in Development; Witchayanee Ocha.- Chapter 26. Conceptualizing Thai Genderscapes: Transformation and Continuity in the Thai Sex/Gender System; Dredge Byung'chu Käng.- Chapter 27. The Third Gender as Seen in Thai Fiction; Jenjit Gasigijtamrong.- Part 5. Contemporary Health Concerns.- Chapter 28. Theravada Buddhist Temple Taking Care of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand: A Case Study of Phrabatnampu Temple; Yoshihide Sakurai & Kazumi Sasaki.- Chapter 29. Authoritative Knowledge, Folk Knowledge and Antenatal Care in Contemporary Northern Thailand; Pranee Liamputtong and Somsri Kitisriworapan.- Chapter 30. Moral Aspect and the Effectiveness of Local Healing in Northern Thailand; Yongsak Tantipidoke.- Chapter 31. Phum Panya Chao Ban (Local Wisdom) and Traditional Healers in Southern Thailand; Dusanee Suwankhong and Pranee Liamputtong.- Chapter32. Patronage, Domination or Collaboration? The Case of Thai Health Promotion Foundation; Atchara Rakyutidharm.