Background of ICTS
The International Conference on Thai Studies (ICTS) has been held once every three years, starting in 1981, either in Thailand or in other countries. The first ICTS was a relatively small event held at the University of Delhi. In 1984, a much larger conference was hosted by Chulalongkorn University at the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok, at a time when the issue of Thai democracy was a hot topic – in part marking half a century since the end of absolute monarchy, and in part because of the opening up of society, scholarship and politics after the clampdown of the late 1970s. 1987 saw ICTS move to Australia, and one of the hallmarks of this conference was its inclusion of the wider Tai realm, a theme that continued in successive ICTS meetings in Kunming in 1990 and at SOAS in London in 1993. The conference moved back to Thailand in 1996 and had its largest attendance ever at Chiang Mai University. It was hosted in Europe in 1999 at the University of Amsterdam, a conference where many civil society issues were aired, including pressing land rights questions. In 2002, the conference was hosted in Isan, and in 2005 moved to North America for the first time, at Northern Illinois University in De Kalb. 2008 and 2011 saw the conference back in Bangkok, at Thammasat and Mahidol respectively. In 2014, ICTS was organized at the University of Sydney, marking the first time that the conference was held outside Thailand in a city with a large overseas Thai community. In 2017, the ICTS went back to Chiang Mai University for a second time with the theme “Thai Studies: Globalized Thailand? Connectivity, Conflict, and Conundrums of Thai Studies”. In 2021, ICTS will be hosted by Kyoto University, to be held in Japan for the first time.
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ICTS14 2021
CSEAS, Kyoto University
Kyoto, Japan
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ICTS13 2017
Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai, Thailand https://icts13.chiangmai.cmu.ac.th/
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ICTS12 2014
University of Sydney
Sydney, Australia
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ICTS11 2011
Mahidol University
Bangkok, Thailand
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ICTS10 2008
Thammasat Universtity
Bangkok, Thailand
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ICTS9 2005
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
DeKalb, Illinois, USA
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ICTS8 2002
Ramkhamhaeng University
Nakhon Phanom, Thailand
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1900s
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ICTS7 1999
University of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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ICTS6 1996
Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai, Thailand
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ICTS5 1993
SOAS, University of London
London, UK
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ICTS4 1990
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Kunming, China
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ICTS3 1987
Australian National University
Canberra, Australia
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ICTS2 1984
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok, Thailand
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ICTS1 1981
University of Delhi
New Delhi, India
Source: Conference Program, 13th International Conference on Thai Studies “Globalized Thailand?” Connectivity, Conflict, and Conundrums of Thai Studies, 15 – 18 July 2017 (https://icts13.chiangmai.cmu.ac.th/background.php)