Vol. 56 No. 1 (2026): January - June

Editorial

The articles in this issue continue to demonstrate the diversity of knowledge in the social sciences and the wide-ranging interests of scholars in international, national, and local politics. They reflect ongoing scholarly efforts to apply social science knowledge to the analysis of political, economic, and social issues from the international to the local level. International relations and geopolitics in the Asia-Pacific region remain important areas of scholarly attention. The article “Japan’s Right of Collective Self-Defense in Indo-Pacific Strategy: Hedging strategic through Indirect Balancing Perspective” by Pornpitak Nimanong examines the dynamics of Japan’s exercise of the right of collective self-defense during the Abe administration through the lens of hedging. The article addresses the question of how Japan has exercised the right of collective self-defense within its Indo-Pacific strategy, finding that this reflects an effort to exercise self-defense while reducing reliance on the United States for military protection.

The article “Thailand’s Alignment Strategy Amidst the US-China Rivalry: A Role Theory Perspective” by Wen Chou Han analyzes Thailand’s policy efforts, as a middle power, to maintain a balance in its international relations amid conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region. The study finds that Thai foreign policy is characterized by “maintaining distance” or “Soft Hedging” in the rivalry between regional great powers, due to domestic political instability, policy discontinuity, and long-standing policy role conceptions. The analysis of policy formulation and policy implementation through case studies is also an important approach to understanding problems in policy design and implementation at the local level, particularly in terms of street-level implementation.

The article “From Oil to Bridge: Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s Assemblage of Act of Adaptation” by Sittha Pasutan analyzes the economic and political adaptation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic after the socialist era through the concept of assemblage. The study suggests that understanding the adaptive mechanisms of a socialist state within global dynamics requires consideration of assemblages involving actors beyond the state, such as transnational capital and local spaces.

The article “Enhancing the Efficiency of Police Law Enforcement in Handling Child and Juvenile Offenders Involved in Violent Crime in Bangkok” by Chanyarat Charatpatcharanon, Kantita Sripa, and Theeravut Nilpetch examines the roles and responsibilities of state officials in law enforcement processes, the problems and obstacles encountered in practice, and approaches to enhancing law enforcement efficiency in relation to a policy target group, namely children and juveniles. The findings indicate that street-level bureaucrats, such as police officers, play a comprehensive role in every stage of the process. These roles include preventing offences through proactive projects and activities, making arrests with measures appropriate to the psychological condition and developmental stage of children, detaining children and juveniles separately from adult offenders, and conducting multidisciplinary investigations in cooperation with psychologists, social workers, and public prosecutors. However, because these procedures are complex, several problems arise, including gaps in legal provisions, procedural complexity and time constraints, insufficient competence and specialized expertise among personnel, and shortages of specialized manpower. These are structural problems that exceed the capacity of street-level officials to resolve on their own.

Local issues, communities, areas, and local administrative organizations continue to attract scholarly attention. This reflects the growing academic interest in the role of local development, as well as the obstacles, problems, and opportunities facing local administrative organizations. The article “The Community-Based Learning Process for Enhancing and Creating Economic Value from Local Capital: A Case Study of Singhanakhon Municipality, Songkhla Province” by Thienchai Phankhong, Farida Sasha, Thanakorn Preukrattananapa, and Jackrit Manvicha examines the context of local capital and the community economy, synthesizes a community-based learning process, analyzes the outcomes of that process, and proposes policy recommendations and a development model. The study finds that cooperation among the public sector, the private sector, and educational institutions, together with the use of digital technology, can foster collaborative learning and further local development through the genuine participation of relevant stakeholders.

The communication of local administrative leaders also plays an important role in promoting public understanding of policies and projects. The article “Political Communication of Mayors in Flood Management: A Case Study of Yala Municipality” by Punyawan Jitprakong examines the forms and strategies of political communication used by local administrative leaders during disasters and analyzes the effectiveness of these strategies in promoting public participation. The findings show that transparency and visible action, opportunities for public participation in decision-making, the selection of representatives from each village, cross-boundary problem solving based on a win-win approach, and the accumulated legitimacy of administrators all contribute to successful communication and policy implementation. These findings suggest that good governance and leadership are important complementary elements in driving policy at the local level.

Finally, the article “Strategic engagement and legal pluralism: navigating knowledge and expertise in mining disputes” by Sara K. Phillips analyzes the efforts of communities and civil society to understand technical and legal knowledge and to construct accessible narratives for mobilizing support from local communities and the wider public at both national and international levels. These efforts are part of legal struggles against government agencies and capital groups that use technical and legal language to restrict the role of local citizens. The article reflects the politics of resource allocation among citizens, the state, and capital in local areas.

The editorial board hopes that the articles in this issue will be useful to readers and will inspire academic debate and further research in the future, contributing to the development of a strong scholarly foundation with social impact at both the level of ideas and policy formulation.

Associate Professor Dr. Thanapan Laiprakobsup
Editor-in-Chief
Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University