2. Final Report
Re-examining the Political Landscape of Thailand
(Contract no 2-028/2553 Project code 2553-2-028ข)
By
Assistant Professor Dr.Apichat Satitniramai
Faculty of Economics Thammasat University
Assistant Professor Dr.Yukti Mukdawijitra
Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology Thammasat University
Associate Professor Dr.Niti Pawakapan
Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University
This project was supported by
Thai Health Promotion Foundation (Thai Health)
May 2013
3. Summary
Based on quantitative surveys, in-depth interviews and fieldwork research in several
villages in northern, northeastern, central and southern Thailand, this research argues that Thai
socio-political landscapes have changed economically, politically, and ideologically for the past
two decades. These changes brought about a new group of people with new economic and
political attributes, labeled as the ‘new citizens’. Nidhi Eoseewong refers to the same group of
people as the ‘lower middle class’ as their characteristics, interests and concerns differ from
the ‘old middle class’ which includes middle or higher class people.
The ‘new citizens’ are categorized as those who earn a monthly income of 5,000-10,000
Baht. It is estimated that they composed 40 per cent of Thai households in 2008, which makes
them the largest group of voters in the national election. Although they are not the poorest, they
are inferior to the ‘old middle class’ in many aspects including incomes, asset, jobs, and
education. Because of this, the ‘new citizens’ have new needs and aspirations for a set of
public policies that is different from the ‘old middle class’. The socio-economic change for the
past twenty years made the ‘new citizens’ the largest group among the Thai political
constituency and political parties need to develop new public policies to cater for this new group
of voters.
At the same time, the institutionalization of electoral politics both at the national and
local level, especially since the enforcement of the 1997 constitution, created more incentives
for politicians to formulate macro-level public policies in response to the demands of this
constituency. The 1997 constitution was designed to create a more effective Thai state for
implementing public policies which political parties promised during electoral campaigns. This
was the same time that the Thai Rak Thai party emerged under the leadership of Thaksin
Shinawatra. Thus, Thaksin became the first elected Thai Prime Minister who could keep and
meet his promises during his term. It was the first time in Thailand that the majority of voters
felt that the ballot box affected their daily lives.
However, the improved electoral politics reduces political influence of the ‘old middle
class’. Electoral politics has hardly been an effective public policy instrument for the the ‘old
middle class’ since the masses have always outnumbered the the ‘old middle class’. Thus, this
‘old middle class’ have employed and enjoyed other political instruments--such as the
mainstream mass media, social relations with the elites, and even supporting a coup d’etat--to
disproportionately access to policy making.
4. In this light, the present color-coded political conflict is a conflict between 'the new
citizens’ and the ‘old middle class’. The ‘new citizens’ (Red Shirts) fight to preserve their most
effective policy instrument--electoral politics--whereas the ‘old middle class’ (Yellow Shirts) fight
to emphasize participatory democracy and accountability. Ideologically speaking, each side
commit to different types of democracy.
The Yellow Shirts stress the importance of participatory and accountability politics while
not trusting parliamentary politics and elected politicians. In effect, they call for a check in the
politicians’ power by others players and institutions such as the monarchy--including the Privy
Council-- constitutional independent bodies, the military, and the judicial power. On the other
hand, the Red Shirts emphasize the paramount of the election and parliamentary democracy as
the sole legitimate source of governance. Moreover, they stress fairness and equality of an
access to political and policy process; and hence the Red Shirts are against the notion of
“double (political) standards.” In effect, they reject any extra-parliamentary check of power
whether they are the military, the law courts or other independent bodies.
Socio-economic changes during the last twenty years have also undermined various
conditions that underpin the patron-client social relationship. This research argues that Thai
society is no longer a self-subsistent peasant society with high poverty, a fundamental basis of
‘patron-client relationship’ in which poor peasants use a ‘risk-minimization and safety-first
strategy and the patron-client relationship is no longer a dominant form of Thai social relation.
Rather, horizontal relationships are increasingly more important. These complex, flexible and
dynamic horizontal relations are a result of socio-economic changes that weaken the grip of
influential groups in many locales; and hence, they open doors for new forms of social networks
and organizations. These new modes of social relations in turn facilitate a political movement to
achieve the new citizen’s rights and interests. In another aspect, those horizontal relations are
created to build up a common new political ideology and identity of the ‘new citizens’.