The King Never Smiles

The King Never Smiles
Author: Paul M. Handley
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300130597

Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, the only king ever born in the United States, came to the throne of his country in 1946 and is now the world's longest-serving monarch. This book tells the unexpected story of his life and 60-year rule: how a Western-raised boy came to be seen by his people as a living Buddha; and how a king widely seen as beneficent and apolitical could in fact be so deeply political, autocratic, and even brutal. Paul Handley provides an extensively researched, factual account of the king's youth and personal development, ascent to the throne, skilful political maneuverings, and attempt to shape Thailand as a Buddhist kingdom. Blasting apart the widely accepted image of the king as egalitarian and virtuous, Handley convincingly portrays an anti-democratic monarch who, together with allies in big business and the corrupt Thai military, has protected a centuries-old, barely-modified feudal dynasty. When at nineteen Bhumibol assumed the throne after the still-unsolved shooting of his brother, the Thai monarchy had been stripped of power and prestige. Over the ensuing decades, Bhumibol became the paramount political actor in the kingdom, crushing critics while attaining high status among his people. The book details this process and depicts Thailand's unique constitutional monarch in the full light of the facts.

The Oxford Handbook of Asian Philosophies in Music Education

The Oxford Handbook of Asian Philosophies in Music Education
Author: C. Victor Fung
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2024-07-19
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0190621680

This volume focuses on the collective wisdom of Asian philosophies and their implications for music education. All twenty chapters are written by highly regarded philosophers and music educators steeped in various Asian traditions. These chapters will include an explanation of a prominent philosophical tradition, evidence in a contemporary music teaching and learning settings (including its inception and historical development along with an explanation of how the philosophical tradition works in contemporary music education), and suggestions for potential directions in the near and distant future. The book is organized into five sections. Section I is based on Chinese philosophical traditions, which have the longest history and are some of the most influential across Asia and beyond. Chapters in Section II present a snapshot of Japanese and Korean views, beginning with the musical practices in the Joseon Period (1392-1910) that are still being practiced in South Korea today to Western influences in 19th century Japan. A collection of philosophical traditions from South and Southeast Asia are contained in Section III, ranging from the insights of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX of Thailand, an accomplished jazz musician, to the Balinese notion of taksu, a form of supreme energy and divine power crucial for compelling performances in the performing arts. We venture into the Islamic and the Middle Eastern world in Section IV, where the dance practices of the Hadhrami Arabs in the Malay Archipelago to traditional sharah music are contextualized within Islamic philosophy. This section also describes the philosophical ideas of the 12th-century Persian philosopher and founder of the Illuminationist (Ishraq) philosophy, Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi, arguing that his ideas have much to recommend music education, as this approach requires students to listen in deeper ways, absorb more abundantly, and move beyond arts education to encompass the education of the whole person. Section V concludes with a metaphorical view on a New Silk Road in music education in the 21st century, where ideas are traded for mutual benefit and the development multicultural philosophies of music education. While there are numerous publications on the philosophy of music education rooted in the Western philosophical traditions of ancient Greece, the Asian philosophical voice is virtually silent outside of Asia, and this volume aims to begin the long process of redressing this imbalance. This volume will open readers to the richness of Asian philosophical sources and hopefully stimulate dialogues that could generate new insights and directions for further development, cross-pollination, and application of some of the world's earliest philosophical traditions.

Truth on Trial in Thailand

Truth on Trial in Thailand
Author: David Streckfuss
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 507
Release: 2010-09-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1136942033

This book explores the basics of the defamation law as it applies to private-sphere defamation and looks at the peculiar permutations created by the use of public-sphere defamation laws in Thailand, particularly in terms of creating and protecting a nationalist identity.

A Kingdom in Crisis

A Kingdom in Crisis
Author: Andrew MacGregor Marshall
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2015-11-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1783607807

'Perhaps the best introduction yet to the roots of Thailand's present political impasse. A brilliant book.' Simon Long, The Economist Struggling to emerge from a despotic past, and convulsed by an intractable conflict that will determine its future, Thailand stands at a defining moment in its history. Scores have been killed on the streets of Bangkok. Freedom of speech is routinely denied. Democracy appears increasingly distant. And many Thais fear that the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is expected to unleash even greater instability. Yet in spite of the impact of the crisis, and the extraordinary importance of the royal succession, they have never been comprehensively analysed – until now. Breaking Thailand's draconian lèse majesté law, Andrew MacGregor Marshall is one of the only journalists covering contemporary Thailand to tell the whole story. Marshall provides a comprehensive explanation that for the first time makes sense of the crisis, revealing the unacknowledged succession conflict that has become entangled with the struggle for democracy in Thailand.

Worshipping the Great Moderniser

Worshipping the Great Moderniser
Author: Irene Stengs
Publisher: NUS Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9789971694296

An examination of social imaginary surrounding Thai kingship and Thainess that yield an intriguing amalgam of ideas concerning popular religion, Buddhist kingship, nationalism, and material culture. It explores the contemporary appeal of King Chulalongkorn and considers what this ruler's unprecedented popularity says about Thai society.

Political Change in Thailand

Political Change in Thailand
Author: Kevin Hewison
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2002-09-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134681208

This book provides an assessment of approaches to studying Thai politics, the various forces reshaping the forms of political activity and their roles in the fluid contemporary political environment. This volume will be of particular interest to those who require an understanding of the complex and rapidly changing political realities of contemporary Thailand. Political Change in Thailand will be of particular interest to those who require an understanding of the complex and rapidly changing political realities of contemporary Thailand.