Thai Legal History: From Traditional to Modern Law

Description

This is the first book to provide a broad coverage of Thai legal history in the English language. It deals with pre-modern law, the civil law reforms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the constitutional developments post-1932. It reveals outstanding scholarship by both Thai and international scholars, and will be of interest to anyone interested in Thailand and its history, providing an indispensable introduction to Thai law and the legal system. The civil law reforms are a notable focus of the book, which provides material of interest to comparative lawyers, especially those interested in the diffusion of the civil law.

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.

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 This is a ground-breaking work - the first collection of Thai legal history essays in English. Featuring works by a group of senior and junior scholars, these essays range right across the epochs and encompass an eclectic mix of subjects. Radiating scholarship and erudition, these essays will appeal to specialists and generalists alike. Hats off to Harding and Pongsapan for pulling off what those studying legal history in Southeast Asia have long regarded as an impossibility. An important and compelling read. Kevin Tan, Professor of Law, National University of Singapore