The Communist Party of Thailand and Thai Radical Thought

Abstract

Occupying a unique place in the development of Thai radical thought is the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). Owing to its underground nature and its foreign connections, it has operated somewhat apart from the internal development of radical philosophy in Thailand. Its own philosophy has hardly developed* at all since its formal founding in 1942.1 What changes in thought it has gone through are almost entirely the result of changes in China. Because of its strict adherence to the doctrine of democratic centralism, it is nearly impossible for outsiders to discern any internal philosophical debate, though it is believed such a debate has occurred, especially since the widening of the Sino-Soviet split. It is not the intention here to do a complete analysis of the CPT ? that would be a major undertaking and probably must await the availability of more material. But it is important to show the development of the party in relation to the rest of Thai radical thought. The CPT is seen not so much as an active participant in the development of Thai radical thought but as an outside stimulant and finally a refuge. The CPT's most prominent role has been in the stimulation of interest in the thoughts of Mao Zedong among Thai radicals. That would undoubtedly have occurred anyway, but the presence of an active group of pro-Mao propagandists certainly speeded up and heightened the influence of Maoist thought in Thailand. Later, as the CPT began armed struggle, it became for the Thai radicals the physical embodiment of one possible path to the revolution they sought. Even though a Thai radical might not himself be a member of the Party or have much connection with it, he had to see himself in relation to it because the Party was striving for roughly the same vision of the future that the radical intellectuals were espousing in their novels and poems. The armed struggle of the communists therefore represented the ultimate position that the radicals could take philosophically and tactically. So it is possible to see the CPT as the target or end point in the development of Thai radical thought. This depiction, however, is still somewhat deceptive. It is the argument of this paper that Thai radical thought developed as a continuous interaction of Thai thought and Marxist thought in the turbulence of a changing Thai society and political system. While the CPT certainly had some intellec tual impact on Thai radical thought, that influence was, on the whole, secondary since it consisted almost entirely of simply translating the works of Mao Zedong and distributing them. Perhaps its role was more important, given its organization and structure, as a refuge for Thai leftists when repression by the Thai Government grew too much for the radicals to withstand. So throughout its history the CPT received radicals on the run from government authorities. It did not always (in fact it rarely) allowed the radicals to have much impact on its own philosophy. But it did demand ideological adherence to