Thailand is at a critical moment in its history, with an unpopular military dictatorship and an impending royal succession. In its search for political legitimacy, the government has relied on national humiliation narratives to direct attention away from its failures. What will this manipulation of historical memory mean for the future?

Shane Strate is an assistant professor of history at Kent State University where he teaches courses on the history of Southeast Asia and post-colonialism. Strate’s monograph the Lost Territories: Thailand’s History of National Humiliation was recently published by University of Hawaii Press. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.