Confronting Communism: Sang Phatthanothai and Thailand's Dynamic Relationship with the Cold War World, 1948-1957.

As a highly influential political figure in the Second Phibun era (1948-57), Sang Phatthanothai charted unique paths for the Thai nation-state in the emerging Cold War. In multifarious roles -- as labour organizer, newspaper editor and back-channel diplomat -- Sang orchestrated Thai connections with both the People's Republic of China and transnational anti-communist organizations like the spiritual Moral Re-Armament movement in the 1950s. An intellectual and political history of his career reveals a flexible and adaptive vision of Thailand's relationship with international developments in the post-war world. Governing this vision was Sang's dynamic assessment of what best protected the Thai nation's identity and independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]