Thai Legal History

Andrew Harding is a leading scholar in Asian legal studies, who has worked extensively on Thai and Southeast Asian constitutional law. He is co-author of The Constitutional System of Thailand: A Contextual Analysis (2011), and is co-founding-editor of the series of Constitutional Systems of the World (Hart/ Bloomsbury). He is a former Head of the Law School, SOAS, University of London, former Director of the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, former Director of the Asian Law Institute, and former Chief Editor of the Asian Journal of Comparative Law. His latest book is Constitutional Courts in Asia (2018). Munin Pongsapan is Associate Professor and Dean of the Law Faculty, Thammasat University, where he teaches contract law, the law of obligations, civil law systems, and legal history. He received his LL.B. from Thammasat University, LL.M. from the University of Cambridge, and Ph.D. in law from the University of Edinburgh. He is a contributor of Volumes I, III, IV and V of the Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia project.

• 1. Introduction Andrew Harding; 2. Thai legal history: a brief literature review Rawin Leelapana, Andrew Harding and Eugenie Merieau; Part I. Traditional law and its modern resonances: 3. Thammasat, custom and royal authority in Siam's legal history Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit; 4. The history of the initial royal command: a reflection on the legal and political contexts of kingship and the modern state in Siam Kongsatja Suwanapech; 5. Buddhist influence on the ancient Siamese legal system, from Ayutthaya to the twenty-first century Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang; 6. A history of the Thai Le`se-Majeste´ law Eugenie Merieau; 7. Blood curse and belonging in Thailand: law, Buddhism and legal consciousness David M. Engel; Part II. Foreign influence and the reform period: 8. British judges in the supreme court of Siam Surutchada Reekie and Adam Reekie; 9. The fundamental misconception in the drafting of the Thai civil and commercial code of 1925 Munin Pongsapan; 10. The modernisation of Thai criminal law: from the 1908 penal code to the 1956 criminal code Kanaphon Chanhom; 11. Thai trust law: a legal import rooted in pragmatism Surutchada Reekie and Narun Popattanachai; 12. The history of Thai family laws: strong women and weak gender equality under the law Apinop Atipiboonsin; 13. The origins of Thailand's bureaucratic state and the consolidation of administrative justice Peter Leyland; 14. Siam and the standard of civilisation in the nineteenth century Krisdakorn Wongwuthikun and Naporn Popattanachai; Part III. Constitutional conflicts 1932–2017: 15. The Thai-style democracy in post-1932 Thailand and its challenges: a quest for nirvana of constitutional samsara in Thai legal history before 1997 Rawin Leelapatana; 16. Permutations of the basic structure: Thai constitutionalism and the democratic regime with the king as head Henning Glaser; 17. The 1991–1992 judicial crisis: personalities or principles? Duncan McCargo; 18. Without account: coups, amnesties and justice in Thailand Tyrell Haberkorn; Glossary; Index.

'This edited collection is a work of great scholarly depth and breadth. It unites the work of an exciting group of scholars to address fundamental questions concerning the past and future of the Thai legal system. Lively issues in Thai legal history such as 'legal families', 'legal culture' and the civilian heritage of Thai law are thoroughly investigated. It is, without doubt, a future classic of Thai legal history.' Paul du Plessis, Professor of Roman Law, Edinburgh University