New Directions in Thai Studies

This pathbreaking collection by newer generations of Thai studies scholars analyses key historical and cultural contexts in modern Thailand, emphasising how the country’s modern transformations have been prompted by the challenges presented by imperial and neo-imperial regimes in Southeast Asia.
—Peter A. Jackson, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University.


The days that Thai studies is the business of the Western scholars gazing upon Thailand are over. This volume is evidence of the increasing significance of “home scholars” in Thai studies and the range of how they engage with the dominant views on various issues in English, both radically and otherwise.
—Thongchai Winichakul, Emeritus Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Preedee Hongsaton is a Research Fellow at Linnaeus University Centre for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, Sweden. He is currently a member of the collaborative research programme Imperial Expansion and Intercultural Diplomacy: Treaty-making in Southeast Asia, c.1750−1920.


Ying-kit Chan is an Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore. He was formerly a research fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University. His latest book is Southeast Asia in China: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Engagements (Rowman and Littlefield, 2023).


This pathbreaking collection analyses pivotal historical contexts and cultural settings in modern Thailand. The analytical frame of postcolonial studies challenges conservative narratives that Siam/Thailand was “never colonised”, highlighting how the country’s modern transformations have been responses to the challenges presented by imperial and neo-imperial regimes in Southeast Asia. This book brings together many scholars of Thailand whose innovative studies have not previously been available to an international academic audience. This collection showcases the important work that newer generations of researchers are undertaking in Thailand and other Asian countries.