Book ASEAN's First Decade Thakur Phanit ISBN 978-616-341-081-8 (Download .pdf below)

ASEAN's First Decade presents a comprehensive analysis of problems and progress in regional relationships among the original five members of ASEAN between 1967-1978 as well as assesses the prospects for regional integration. Cooperation in ASEAN's economic, social, and political sectors constitute the principal dependent variables of this study. The independent variables, the reasons and explanations of ASEAN's problems and progress, are identified as several intra-regional and extra-regional elements. Some concluding assessments, such as the necessity for more decision-making power to be provided to ASEAN institutions in order to improve ASEAN cooperation, and the likelihood of ASEAN to remain a "slow but steady" organization, have proven to be prophetic in subsequent decades of ASEAN development.

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Thakur Phanit is a former diplomat who served as Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to Sri Lanka (and concurrently the Maldives), Norway (and concurrently Latvia), Singapore and Poland. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science (International Relations) from the Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A. Currently, he holds the post of Vice President for International Affairs at the Chulabhorn Research Institute in Bangkok.