Thailand at the Limit: One Year After the April-May 2010 Protests

Thursday, 5 May 2011
12 noon – 2 p.m.
Hedley Bull Lecture Theatre 1
The Australian National University

Just over a year ago, in the midst of the stand-off among Thai government forces, red-shirted members of the United Democratic Front Against Dictatorship (UDD), and other murky actors, Thai Studies scholars at the ANU gathered for “Thailand on the Verge” to talk about the unfolding crisis in the streets.

One year later, Thailand is no longer on the verge. Instead, Thailand appears to be reaching a political, social, historic and economic limit [the utmost extent; a geographic or political boundary; a determining feature or differentia in logic; something that is exasperating or intolerable].There is a growing war on the border with Cambodia, the PM Abhisit government and the UDD are locked into conflict with one another, possible elections are on the horizon, and competing versions of the truth of April-May 2010 are being offered by different factions. Long-term crises – the rise in the use of terrorist tactics and the laws to address them, economic inequality, and the precarity of ethnic minorities and migrants – remain unresolved.

Join scholars from ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific and the College of Law for a panel discussion about the political, economic, historic, and cultural limits of the present situation. Speakers will make brief comments and then the floor will be open for questions.

Speakers:
Dr Pongphisoot Busbarat, School of International, Political, and Strategic Studies
Dr Nicholas Farrelly, School of Regulation, Justice, and Diplomacy
Dr Jane Ferguson, School of Culture, History and Language
Dr Mark Nolan, College of Law
Dr Craig Reynolds, School of Culture, History and Language
Dr Andrew Walker, School of International, Political, and Strategic Studies
Dr Peter Warr, Crawford School of Economics and Government

Moderator:
Dr Tyrell Haberkorn, School of International, Political, and Strategic Studies

For more information, please contact [email protected].