Books in the New Perspectives in SE Asian Studies series

Thanks to its active role in national politics, the market economy, and popular culture, the Thai crown remains both the country's dominant institution and one of the world's wealthiest monarchies. Puangchon Unchanam examines the reign of Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama IX and how the crown thrived by transforming itself into a ""bourgeois"" monarchy.

In 2001, Thailand introduced universal health care reforms that have become some of the most celebrated in the world. Drawing on two years of fieldwork at a district hospital in northern Thailand, Bo Kyeong Seo examines how people in marginal and dependent social positions negotiate the process of obtaining care.

The first book to explore the critical problem of provisioning the "megacity." A historical study of Manila looks at the continuing challenges of getting food, water, and services to the millions of people who live in the world's megacities.