Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction, by Andrew Harding -- Thammasat, custom, and royal authority in Siam's legal history by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit -- The history of the initial royal command : a reflection on the legal and political contexts of kingship and the modern State in Siam, by Kongsatja Suwanapech -- Buddhist influence on the ancient Siamese Legal System, from Ayutthaya to the 21st Century, by Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang -- A history of the Thai Lèse-Majesté Law, by Eugénie Mérieau -- Blood curse and belonging in Thailand : law, Buddhism and legal consciousness, by David M. Engel -- British judges in the Supreme Court of Siam, by Surutchada Reekie and Adam Reekie -- The fundamental misconception in the drafting of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code of 1925, by Munin Pongsapan -- The modernisation of Thai Criminal Law : From the 1908 Penal Code to the 1956 Criminal Code, by Kanaphon Chanhom -- Thai Trust Law : a legal import rooted in pragmatism, by Surutchada Reekie and Narun Popattanachai -- The history of Thai family laws : strong women and weak gender equality under the law, by Apinop Atipiboonsin -- The origins of Thailand's bureaucratic state and the consolidation of administrative justice, by Peter Leyland -- Siam and the standard of civilisation in the nineteenth century, by Krisdakorn Wongwuthikun and Naporn Popattanacha -- The Thai-style democracy in in post-1932 Thailand and its challenges : a quest for nirvana of constitutional Saṃsāra in Thai legal history before 1997, by Rawin Leelapatana -- Permutations of the basic structure : Thai constitutionalism and the democratic regime with the king as head, by Henning Glaser -- The 1991-2 judicial crisis : personalities or principles?, by Duncan McCargo -- Without account : coups, amnesties and justice in Thailand, by Tyrell Haberkorn.

"The starting point for much research and speculation on Thai law is that the framing and understanding of contemporary issues is so much rooted in the past. This much should be true of legal history, or even for that matter of history in general, anywhere. As we see from the contributions to this volume, however, it seems truer of Thai law than one might expect, given the enormous changes over the last one and a half centuries. But why exactly do we study legal history? Is it in order to gain a more complete understanding of law in the past, which contributes to our understanding of history and how we got where we are; or a more complete and intelligent understanding of law in the present? In the implicit view of the contributors to this volume, each of these reasons appears to be both adequate and compelling"--