Chang Noi
Chang Noi ( Thai ช้างน้อย , "little elephant") is a common pseudonym of the British historian Chris Baker , who lives in Thailand , and his wife, the Thai economist Pasuk Phongpaichit . Under this name they have published a column in the English-language newspaper The Nation since 1996 about current political and social developments and events in Thailand.
The series began in the final stages of the country's economic boom. This was followed by the adoption of the new constitution of 1997, the Asian financial and economic crisis , the rise and fall of Thaksin Shinawatra , the military coup of 2006 and a new constitution in 2007. However, "Chang Noi" wrote less about the big political issues than about everyday issues and subtle aspects. In doing so, they highlighted otherwise little perceived, but from their point of view significant signs of social change and the Thai self-view.
Topics included, for example, the criminal and political activities of so-called “godparents”, dam projects and environmental protection, cases of corruption and fraud, the superstitious beliefs of important actors and their preference for belief in ghosts, the resurgence of nationalistic resentment after the economic crisis, hypocritical reactions to the alleged decline in morality , political killings, extrajudicial killings in the “war on drugs”, obstruction of activists and non-governmental organizations and other cases of authoritarian, repressive and marginalizing tendencies in Thai politics.
According to the authors, the “little elephant” “tramples” through the “jungle” of Thai politics, “whirls up leaves, topples rotten wood and trumpets in dismay”. Despite the serious issues, "Chang Noi" often chose ironic and humorous forms and metaphors and rarely took open positions, but quoted other critics or put opinions into the mouths of the fictional participants in fictional dialogues. In order to classify current developments, "Chang Noi" occasionally also provided reviews of recent Thai history, back to the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932 .
The authors published a selected collection of 64 of the almost 400 articles published between 1996 and 2008 under the title Jungle Book in 2009 .
literature
- "Chang Noi": Jungle Book. Thailand's Politics, Moral Panic, and Plunder, 1996-2008. Silkworm, Chiang Mai 2009, ISBN 978-974-9511-63-3 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul M. Handley: The King Never Smiles. Yale University Press, New Haven CT 2006, p. 474 (footnote 3); Nabanita Dutt (Ed.): To Thailand With Love. ThingsAsian Press, San Francisco 2013, p. 274.
- ↑ a b Craig Reynolds: Review of Chang Noi. In: New Mandala , April 23, 2010.
- ↑ a b James Eckardt: Political jungle journeys with The Nation's Chang Noi. ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: The Nation , January 31, 2009.
- ↑ Description: Jungle Book by Chang Noi , University of Washington Press, accessed December 15, 2014.
