Peter Jackson gained a PhD for his research in the area of Thai Buddhist philosophy. He is fluent in written and spoken Thai and spent several years in Thailand while working on his doctoral thesis. (The thesis was later published under the title Buddhadasa: A Buddhist Thinker for the Modern World (1988).)
Jackson has been a gay activist with organisations in Australia and Thailand. His study of Thai gays resulted in the publication of Male Homosexuality in Thailand: An Interpretation of Contemporary Thai Sources (1989).
