Historians suggest changes to history book
Thai history experts yesterday called for improvement of the new "Thailand History Book" in terms of language and content. It should cover stories that have already ended or resolved, and hence the political conflict involving the red and yellow shirts
History expert Suphawat Kasemsi, who is a member of the Thai history book revision committee, told a seminar yesterday at Bangkok’s National Theatre that the history book, launched a couple of months ago, should not cover recent political conflicts, as the book does in its last chapter, because such events haven’t been resolved yet. As a historian, he believes that stories or events appropriate for academic discussion should have occurred more than 50 years ago.
Suphawat said the content of a history book should consist of facts and not ideas, because inserting a writer’s ideas in a book would put it at risk of being criticised or sued.
“The book should cover other dimensions of history that were already stable, such as the country’s development in the previous century or the way of life of people. Meanwhile, the more the variety in content in a book the more the opportunities to bring about changes in future,” he said.
Praising the storytelling narrative that makes it easier to understand for people who have not studied history before, he said the book contained rather difficult technical terms and grammar as well as content that was rather short.
Thanet Aphornsuvan head of Thammasat University’s Asean studies department, told the seminar that a history book should be an integrated work among Asean countries, as a country’s history could be clearly related to neighbouring countries. “So we could get a book with better variety of content and more in-depth detail,” he said.
Thanet said the new history book might have been written with the idea of uniting the country or inculcating nationalism, and that there was no new knowledge it. He also suggested that the book should cover minority groups also considered Thai, such as descendants of Malay Muslims, Mon or Lao in Thailand as well as the country’s relationships with China, Japan and the Netherlands.
“Histories that occurred outside the metropolis should also be added in the book, not just what happened in the city,” he said.
