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This study deals with the National Defense College of Thailand and its alumni, who are senior military and civil service officers of the government of Thailand. The study examines the proposition that the political attitudes of military and civil service officers in developing countries are likely to be similar and negative. The second proposition examined in this study is that the attitudes of government officials toward the people are likely to be similar and negative. The study also attempts to examine the official attitudes on the basis of cluster. Each of the three clusters consists of seven classes of the National Defense College. It is argued that the political contexts of each cluster were different and that these differences may result in the different attitudes of officials in each cluster. The study found that military and civil service officers in Thailand hold similar attitudes toward politics and that the attitudes are predominantly negative. Official attitudes were similarly negative. Attitudes toward politics vary, depending upon the time in which the officials were in government service. Officers who worked within the environment of the military government are the most distrustful of politics while officials who worked under a more relaxed, more democratic political system are not as distrustful of politics. Attitudes toward the people are not significantly different among officers from different political environments. It was found that the number of alumni of the National Defense College who were able to reach the three highest ministerial positions in the Thai government has declined over the years. These positions are minister, deputy minister, and undersecretary. One cause of this decline is the increasing politicization of the country or the decreasing role, activity, and involvement of the military in politics. The second cause is the relatively stable number oi the members of each class of the National Defense College. As the overall number of government officers of the country has steadily increased over the years, this stable number has put these officials at a disadvantage.

This thesis examines modern politics in Thailand, its policy, and its search for national security, by showing the impact of the United States on Thai politics. The thesis maintains that politics in Thailand are results that come from attempts of the Thai government to adapt to American involvement in Thailand. The thesis describes the Thai government scene from 1945 to 1972. It analyzes the elements of American involvement and factors in Thai society that are pressured by this involvement. The attempts of the Thai government and its politicians to bring their policy more into line with the changing situations are shown in their reactions to problems of Southeast Asia--the focus of which is on the problems of Vietnam, the problems of China, and the withdrawal of the U.S. to a profile of low visibility.

Poverty has been reduced substantially, but most poverty reducing programs have raised other problems out of poverty. This paper outlines the principal causes of poverty in an emerging nation-Thailand. It presents strategies for reducing the level of poverty.

Most studies in environmental politics have traditionally examined three broad areas: the degradation of the environment; the regulatory regimes governing the environment; or environmental activism within the affluent North. This thesis provides an alternative perspective, exploring environmental activism in the less affluent South. In particular, while human rights and social justice perspectives have historically been largely absent from many environmental movements of the North, this thesis argues that, due to precarious living conditions and authoritarian governance, these issues are of primary importance for environmentalists in the South. As a result this thesis contends that most environmental movements in the South are part of a growing global justice movement and that important cultural diversities within this movement can result in novel forms of resistance and environmental governance. The focus here is on the emancipatory actors within these movements in the South who challenge existing power structures within society. Likewise, by adopting a critical perspective, this thesis argues that large business interests pursue energy projects in the South in the name of energy security and large scale industrial development that are often inappropriate for local development and security needs. To test these hypotheses, four case studies were undertaken that examine transnational gas pipeline and large dam projects at various stages of their development which originate in either Burma (Myanmar) or Thailand. Empirical research, primarily in the form of interviews, undertaken in the countries hosting the various energy projects demonstrated that although environmental activists in the South were assisted by transnational activist networks there were also important local factors that impacted on the emancipatory philosophies, strategies and tactics of many activists in this region. These strategies have achieved some success, with environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes in Thailand now providing a potential opening for the political engagement of communities. Nevertheless, this thesis finds that the power of corporate interests in the international political economy often poses insurmountable barriers for activists to achieve both their short and long term aims. The findings suggest that despite the efforts of activists, local indigenous and ethnic minority communities continue to bear the brunt of the social and environmental costs of transnational energy projects in the South while receiving few of the benefits. Rather than safeguarding these communities from deprivation, these projects often exacerbate existing social tensions and conflicts, resulting in increased community insecurity. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1474397 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2009

Most studies in environmental politics have traditionally examined three broad areas: the degradation of the environment; the regulatory regimes governing the environment; or environmental activism within the affluent North. This thesis provides an alternative perspective, exploring environmental activism in the less affluent South. In particular, while human rights and social justice perspectives have historically been largely absent from many environmental movements of the North, this thesis argues that, due to precarious living conditions and authoritarian governance, these issues are of primary importance for environmentalists in the South. As a result this thesis contends that most environmental movements in the South are part of a growing global justice movement and that important cultural diversities within this movement can result in novel forms of resistance and environmental governance. The focus here is on the emancipatory actors within these movements in the South who challenge existing power structures within society. Likewise, by adopting a critical perspective, this thesis argues that large business interests pursue energy projects in the South in the name of energy security and large scale industrial development that are often inappropriate for local development and security needs. To test these hypotheses, four case studies were undertaken that examine transnational gas pipeline and large dam projects at various stages of their development which originate in either Burma (Myanmar) or Thailand. Empirical research, primarily in the form of interviews, undertaken in the countries hosting the various energy projects demonstrated that although environmental activists in the South were assisted by transnational activist networks there were also important local factors that impacted on the emancipatory philosophies, strategies and tactics of many activists in this region. These strategies have achieved some success, with environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes in Thailand now providing a potential opening for the political engagement of communities. Nevertheless, this thesis finds that the power of corporate interests in the international political economy often poses insurmountable barriers for activists to achieve both their short and long term aims. The findings suggest that despite the efforts of activists, local indigenous and ethnic minority communities continue to bear the brunt of the social and environmental costs of transnational energy projects in the South while receiving few of the benefits. Rather than safeguarding these communities from deprivation, these projects often exacerbate existing social tensions and conflicts, resulting in increased community insecurity. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1474397 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2009

Does banning opposition candidates from ballots increase the risk that they will turn to bullets instead? Globally, since the end of the Cold War, blatant election rigging tactics (such as ballot box stuffing) are being replaced by 'strategic rigging': subtler procedural manipulations aimed at winning while maintaining the guise of legitimacy in the eyes of international observers. In particular, incumbents (in regimes stuck between democracy and authoritarianism) are turning to 'electoral exclusion', neutralizing key rivals by illegitimately banning certain candidates, in turn reducing the need for cruder forms of election day rigging. I used mixed methods - combining insights from an original global dataset with extensive elite interviews conducted in five countries (Madagascar, Thailand, Tunisia, Zambia, and Côte d'Ivoire) - to establish that electoral exclusion is an attractive short-term election strategy for vulnerable incumbents that produces a much higher chance of victory but comes with high costs in the longer-term. Global probit modeling (using electoral exclusion as an independent variable and coups d'état and civil wars as separate dependent variables) suggests that, since the end of the Cold War, excluding opposition candidates from the ballot roughly doubles the risk of a coup d'état or quadruples the risk of civil war onset. In spite of these risks, incumbents fall into this 'exclusion trap' because of the shortened time horizon that frequently accompanies competitive multi-party elections. Vulnerable incumbents worry more about the short-term risk of losing an election than the long-term but ultimately unknown risk that political violence will ensue after the election. Finally, the inverse corollary of these findings is that inclusion of opposition candidates during multi-party elections can be a stabilizing factor. Though it may seem counterintuitive, fragile 'counterfeit democracies' - and so-called 'transitional' regimes - may be able to stave off existential threats to regime survival by extending an olive branch to their fiercest opponents. These findings combine to form the overarching argument of this dissertation: when opposition candidates are excluded from the ballot, they become more likely to turn to bullets by launching coups d'état and civil wars.