03526cam a2200325Ii 4500001001300000003000600013007000300019008004100022020003000063020002700093020003000120020002700150035002200177050002700199100002100226245010700247260004600354300005500400490006600455504006400521520227700585610002202862650003302884651005302917700002602970830006702996942001203063952011203075999001303187on1158473586OCoLCta210129s2020    dk ab    b    001 0 eng d  a9788776942915 (paperback)  a8776942910 (paperback)  a9788776942908 (hardcover)  a8776942902 (hardcover)  a(OCoLC)1158473586  aJQ1749.A8A53bM33 20201 aMcCargo, Duncan.10aFuture Forward :bthe rise and fall of a Thai political party /cDuncan McCargo, Anyarat Chattharakul.  aCopenhagen, Denmark :bNIAS Press,c2020.  aviii, 240 p. :bill. (some col.), maps (some col.)1 aNordic Institute of Asian Studies monograph series ;vno. 150  aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 177-229) and index.  aThai politics have been intensely polarized since demonstrations against the government of then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra began in 2005. Conservatives aligned with the military and monarchy are pitted against critics of the establishment supporting a more open political order. In the election of 24 March 2019, this pattern was broken by the emergence of Future Forward, an upstart political party led by 40-year-old autoparts tycoon Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. Although only founded a year before, and with minimal local roots, the party won 81 seats and became the third largest party in parliament. Future Forward was a rare attempt to break the flawed mold of Thai politics. Borrowing elements from such 'antiparties' as Spain's Podemos and Italy's Five Star Movement, the party used internet technologies to promote its leaders, Thanathorn and his leadership team gaining a celebrity status. It also appealed directly to voters with a national platform, rather than relying on local efforts to mobilize voters. Since the election, the party has been dissolved and its leaders banned from politics. Thanathorn and his colleagues represented an existential threat to the Thai establishment - at least in the imaginations of the elite. Their ability to capture the zeitgeist and tap into the aspirations of digital natives and millennials feeling little loyalty to older notions of Thai identity posed an immense challenge to the powers-that-be. Despite the demise of Future Forward, a significant shift in Thai politics signaled by the party's success seems to be in motion. This is the first book to examine the most interesting new force to emerge in Thai politics for two decades, one also exploring the wider dynamics of political leadership, party formation and voter behavior in a society where popular participation has been largely suppressed since the 2014 military coup. Based on exclusive interviews with party leaders and a wide range of Thai-language sources, it examines how Future Forward succeeded in mobilizing so much electoral support, whilst also arousing intense hostility from the conservative forces demanding its dissolution. Organized into three main themes - Leaders, Party, and Voters - this is a must-read study of Thai politics.24aPhak Anakhot Mai. 4aPolitical partieszThailand. 4aThailandxPolitics and governmenty21st century.0 aAnyarat Chattharakul. 0aNordic Institute of Asian Studies monograph series ;vno. 150.  2lcccBK  00104070aPNLIBbPNLIBcGENd2021-06-17oJQ1749.A8A53 M33 2020pPNLIB21060604r2021-06-17w2021-06-17yBK  c790d790