Accounting for the nation‐state in mid nineteenth‐century Thailand

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between accounting and the early roots of the nation-state in mid nineteenth-century Siam/Thailand. Design/methodology/approach -First, the paper examines the theoretical inter-relationship between accounting and nationalism. Second, it relates this theoretical understanding to a study of the changing concepts, methods and structures of indigenous Siamese accounting at a time of transition when foreign mercantile influence was beginning to have an impact on the mid nineteenthcentury Siamese economy. Third, the paper analyses how these accounting structures and practices came to constitute a socio-political instrument, which contributed to the administrative development of a Siamese dynastic state by the mid nineteenth-century. Finally, the paper studies the ways in which this dynastic state began to promote national characteristics through the use of its accounts to create a sense of Siamese cultural identity. Findings -The findings emphasise the important role of accounting in the construction of political and national identity. Originality/value -This inter-disciplinary paper highlights a general neglect in the accounting literature of the instrumental role of accounting in nation-state formation as well as offering a re-interpretation of Thai historiography from an accounting viewpoint. Moreover as an example of alternative accounting practice, this paper provides an analysis of indigenous accounting methods and structures in mid nineteenth-century Siam/Thailand at the point when they were becoming increasingly influenced by foreign mercantilism.

Management accounting in less developed countries: what is known and needs knowing

“…Nevertheless, non-colonial societies are dynamic and AAAJ 22,3 accounting helps shape cultural identities. In Siam[6] apparently neutral and technical accounts gave an economic base to Siamese national unity in the Bangkok period, projected a Siamese national culture and political identity, and integrated regions into the new nation-state (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007).…”

Indigenous peoples and accounting: A systematic literature review

“…Important insights into how accounting contributes to ‘the construction of political and national identity’ are obtained from mid-nineteenth century Thailand, where ‘indigenous accounting methods and structures’ remained despite increasing foreign mercantile influence (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007: 574). The culturally influenced Siamese accounts promoted an ‘elite sense of Siamese national unity’ (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007: 592) through an awareness and consciousness of cultural practice and values (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007).…”

“…Important insights into how accounting contributes to ‘the construction of political and national identity’ are obtained from mid-nineteenth century Thailand, where ‘indigenous accounting methods and structures’ remained despite increasing foreign mercantile influence (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007: 574). The culturally influenced Siamese accounts promoted an ‘elite sense of Siamese national unity’ (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007: 592) through an awareness and consciousness of cultural practice and values (Constable and Kuasirikun, 2007). Jayasinghe and Thomas (2009) show how the preservation and sustenance of indigenous accounting systems can be explained by the strongly prevailing patronage political system mobilised in the subaltern village's social structure in Sri Lanka, making people unable or unwilling to change their behaviour and practice either individually or collectively.…”

From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting

“…4. Thai-Chinese head-tax accounting (phukpee-jeen) Constable and Kuasirikun (2007) have analysed how tribute accounts (khreaung-bunnakarn) and domestic produce tax accounts (suai) in the early Bangkok period (1782-1868) in Siam (Thailand) contributed to the re-invention and projection of a Siamese monarchical nation-state identity in ostensibly western terms. Kuasirikun and Constable (2010) have also demonstrated that tribute and produce tax accounts in the early Bangkok period simultaneously evidenced the important role of Buddhism in Siamese accounting as an instrument of indigenous state practice at a number of levels.…”