ABSTRACT
Naturally, scholars of International Relations (IR) are captivated by world events, which in turn have generated empirical and theoretical debates within the discipline. Despite the challenges from the Cold War encountered by the newly created states of Southeast Asia, only a handful of Thai academics at the time contributed to the discussion of IR-related issues within Southeast Asian studies. Scholarly curiosity in Southeast Asia among Thai scholars began to increase during the 1980s, but it has accelerated over recent years due to the hype (justified or not) surrounding the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Community in 2015. This chapter seeks to examine the trajectory and the current state of Southeast Asian studies in Thailand as well as the contributors to Southeast Asian studies in IR. Although Southeast Asia and ASEAN are sometimes used interchangeably in a Thai context, this chapter will treat these two areas of study as separate by focusing on the literature on Southeast Asian studies. The state of ASEAN studies in Thailand will be addressed in the next chapter by Pinn Siraprapasiri.
