ABSTRACT
The study of International Relations (IR) and politics of Southeast Asian countries are guided by diverse research interests based on their place and experience throughout history. While experience is locally derived, theories to explain international events and interactions between actors in Southeast Asia are generally imported. As debated in the preceding chapters of this volume, there are a variation of reasons and explanations as to why there has been no contribution to IR theorisation by Thai scholars. Such obstacles include language barriers, avoidance of debate, distaste for theory in general, the dominance of area studies and a preference for producing policy-oriented papers rather than the discussion of theory, to name just a few.
