for over a decade, globalization has been the subject of lively political contestation in thailand. The debate between "globalization" and "localist" (as the thai press has identified the twp camps) involves figures from government, academia, reseach institutes, politics, private business, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Thailand's monarch, King Bhumipon Adulyadet, entered this discursive arena at the end of 1997, giving new legitimacy to the localist side of the debate. The proglobalization forces, however, continued to dominate Thailand's public policy. While there is fierce disagreement about the costs and benefits of globalization, neither globalization nor localists question the idea that globalization is real and consequential, constituting a powerful constraint on national policies. The thai debate thus stands in curious juxtaposition to academic studies of economic openness.