The Revolutionary Isan: The Communist Movement in Isan from inception to Collapse (1920s-1980s)

Abstract

Although the Northeastern region is an area where the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) has been politically active and where there has been a long and fierce military struggle between the CPT and the Thai state, existing writings still have limitations, namely that they tend to focus primarily on the overall picture of the movement from its inception until the collapse of the CPT or on studying the CPT movement at certain times. While existing studies of communist movements in the Northeast tend to focus on only certain parts of the Northeast and do not cover the entire region, the movement has not been studied from its beginning until its collapse. To fill the gaps in this knowledge, this article will discuss (1) the communist movement in the Northeast from its beginnings until its collapse. (2) Every communist movement has always had continuity through its remaining cadres, and each period of movement has also shaped practitioners who will become key players in the next period of movement. (3) The communist movement occurred simultaneously throughout the three major northeastern regions: the Northeastern Region, the Southeastern Region, and the Phu Sang Region. (4) The communist movement in the Northeast is closely related to political changes at the global, Indochinese, and national levels. (5) The internal adjustments of the communist movement at different times significantly influenced the communist movement in the Northeast. (6) The communists who played a role in the movement in the Northeast were not only party leaders but also numerous ordinary cadres. (7) These factors shaped certain characteristics of the communists in the Northeast, as they expressed in their criticism and opposition to the party leadership at the Fourth Party Congress in 1982.