Matthew Phillips is a Lecturer in the Department of History and Welsh History at Aberystwyth University, UK

Introduction 1. 'A Theatre with Two Stages': Jim Thompson's Thailand 2. In and out of Vogue: Dressing for Progress before and after 1945 3. If not 'Great', then what? Rethinking Thainess in Post-war Bangkok 4. Cultural Spectacle, Political Authority and the Subversion of Thai modernity 5. The Tourist Organization of Thailand and Cold War Propaganda 6. It's a Small World After All: Thailand's Integration into Free World Culture. Conclusion

Thailand's position during the Cold War was ambiguous: Thailand's political leadership was keen to maintain the country's independence , yet was also keen to establish the country as staunchly anti-communist. This book argues that though Thailand was never formally a client state of the United States, it was closely embedded in the Western camp through the development of a modern, consumerist lifestyle in Thailand's cosmopolitan urban communities. The book shows how a consumerist ideology and integration into a "free world" culture took hold, and how this popular culture was fundamental in determining Thailand's international political alignment.