Religion and Society in Thailand and Cambodia

Paper Summary:

This paper examines subtle ways of attaining and challenging political power, focusing on the role of society groups and religion. It focuses how an authoritarian regime can quell dissent through outlawing religion, as was the case in Cambodia. Conversely, it then looks at how the use of religious imagery and tradition can also awaken dissent among orderly society.

From the Paper:

"In many Southeast Asian states, power is often maintained through overt strategies, such as a controlled media and military-supported dictatorships. Cambodia, for example, suffered under the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge, under the dictatorship of Pol Pot. Under the Pol Pot regime, an estimated two million Cambodians, one-seventh of the country's population, died from malnutrition, starvation and exhaustion during years of slave labor. Khmer Rouge soldiers executed 200,000 accused "class enemies" outright (Chandler vii)."

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