Indigenizing the Cold War

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The Border Patrol Police (BPP) of Thailand originated as a CIA paramilitary intelligence force in the early 1950s. By the 1960s, shifts in Thailand’s political landscape and U.S. strategies against communism transformed the BPP into a civic action agency backed by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Thai monarchy. Its initiatives aimed at promoting anticommunist modernization and royalist nationalism extended from the periphery to the core of Thailand, contributing to the construction of a national identity known as "Thainess" (khwam pen thai). Tensions between the royalist network, comprising military and rightwing factions, and democratization movements escalated, culminating in a massacre on October 6, 1976. On that day, the Village Scout, a vigilante group formed by the BPP, and the Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit attacked peaceful protesters at Thammasat University. The military coup that followed solidified royalist dominance in Thai politics and society into the post–Cold War era. Through an examination of the BPP's evolution, this work introduces the concept of "indigenization" and offers a nuanced analysis of postcolonial nation-building, challenging traditional Cold War narratives. It posits that the conflict in Thailand was not solely ideological but also a struggle between local elites and the populace, revealing how global superpowers collaborated with local rulers to sustain authoritarian regim