Myths and Realities

This study challenges the prevailing view that Thailand's democratization process in the 1990s was led by the active middle class. It presents an alternative explanation, examining certain 'passive' forces. The author argues the need to break free from the spell of the assumption that the middle class is pro-democracy and turn attention toward anti-democratization forces because the pace of political democratization was slowed down by the presence of such forces. This book will emphasize the fresh point of view that democratization was advanced by appeasement of the forces that were reluctant to democratization. The Japanese original of this book won an Ohira Masayoshi Memorial Prize in 2003.