TY  - BOOK
AU  - Phillips,Matthew
TI  - Thailand in the Cold War
T2  - Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia
SN  - 9781138014169
PY  - 2016///
CY  - London
PB  - Routledge
KW  - Popular culture
KW  - Thailand
KW  - History
KW  - 20th century
KW  - Cold War
KW  - Foreign relations
KW  - United States
KW  - 1945-1988
N1  - Includes bibliographical references and index
N2  - 'Thailand's position during the Cold War was ambiguous: the country's political leadership was very keen to maintain the country's independence on the world stage, yet at the same time was anxious to establish the country's credentials as staunchly anti-communist. However, as this book argues, Thailand, though never formally a client state of the United States, was very closely embedded in the Western camp through the commitment of Thailand's cosmopolitan urban communities to developing a modern, consumerist lifestyle. Considering popular culture, including film, literature, fashion, tourism and attitudes towards Buddhism, the book shows how an ideology of consumerism and integration into a'free world' culture centred in the United States gradually took hold and became firmly established, and how this popular culture and ideology was fundamental in determining Thailand's international political alignment'--
ER  -