The Ambiguous Allure of the West: Traces of the Colonial in Thailand (review)

Thai studies often emphasize Siam’s lack of formal colonization and push the exceptionalism of Thailand and of “Thainess” to mythical levels. But scholars of Thailand are well aware of the provisions and adaptations made by Siamese rulers to Western colonial powers as well as the ambivalent role that the West plays in Thailand today. Yet Thailand is often treated as a place fundamentally different from its neighbours because of the lack of direct European colonization, and therefore it is often seen to be impervious to theoretical insights drawn from other countries. This overemphasis on the uniqueness of Thailand has led to the downplaying of comparative theoretical research concerning Thailand. The Ambiguous Allure of the West seeks to remedy this lacuna by looking at Thailand’s relationship with Western powers and the figure of the Westerner (farang) in the Thai cultural imagination through examples drawn from history, cultural studies, and anthropology. The edited volume provides a compelling case for new research on the (post)coloniality of Thailand as well as some opening steps in this direction by leading scholars in Thai studies today, including Thongchai Winichakul, Pattana Kitiarsa, Tamara Loos, and Michael Herzfeld. However, The Ambiguous Allure of the West is more challenge than conclusion: despite some attempts to tie the chapters together, the real success of the book is in offering a springboard for new research. The authors successfully show that thinking about Thailand’s relationship with the West through ideas about hybridity taken from postcolonial studies (especially the writings of Homi Bhabha) can both yield new and exciting analyses of the country as well as provide new twists on theory — although these works provide only a beginning step. Additionally, as Peter Jackson suggests in his afterword, England (and later America) is not the only country which held or holds an “ambiguous allure” for Thailand.