This is the second part of a two part interview with Paul and Yuangrat Wedel, longtime scholars and writers on Thai history and society. The first part of the interview focused on the roots of radicalism in Thai politics, especially the cultural impact of the Hindu ‘sakdina’ system. The second part begins with a discussion of the 1932 coup that led to the dissolution of absolute monarchy. 

Paul explains the education of both Pridi Banomyong and Phibul Songkhram in France, and their desire to bring Western liberal ideas to Siam. Pridi, the civilian, took a particularly leftist view of economics and tried to indoctrinate those views in the first Thai constitution. Subsequently, after the split between Pridi and Phibul, Pridi’s more radical views were used against him and played a role in his eventual exile from Thailand. 

The conversation continues to cover the rise of the military in Thai politics, the role of satire in Thai society, the student uprisings of the 1970s, and eventually to the more recent protests against the current military-backed government. Has anything really changed? If not, is there reason for optimism? Listen in for the views of two true experts on Thailand with a genuinely long view of Thai history. 

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