Telecommunications reform in Thailand : state-business relations

This study is about relations between the Thai state and telecommunications business during the reform between 1980 and 2000. These relations have changed from a 'Bureaucratic Polity' model before the late 1980s to partnership during the 1990s. These changes were resulted from the internal economic and political development and the external force of globalization; both bring the internationalisation of state, capital and labour.;Through the reform, the business sector is gaining its influence through the implementation of liberalization policy. However, this study argues that the Thai state has been able to maintain a certain degree of autonomy in relation to the business sector during the reform.;In explaining Thai state-business relations, this study applies Robert Cox's 'Mediator' State and a 'Framework for Action' and Gramsci's notion of hegemony as an analytical approach. These combined theoretical insights not only help to explain the changing relations of the Thai state and business during the reform, they also assist in addressing the relations between the Thai state and the world telecommunications order, as well as revealing conflict and co-operation among state agencies and between state-business players involved in the reform.