ABSTRACT
In the standard analysis of Thai political economy, the late 1980s and early 1990s are regarded as the height of Thailand’s modern economic boom. From 1988 to 1990, Thailand registered double-digit growth rates – 13.3, 12.4 and 10 per cent respectively – ranking it among the world’s most dynamic economies. This period, however, was not just a time of economic expansion, but also a time of increasing resistance to that expansion. While Thailand’s middle class began to see solid gains in their incomes thanks to the economic boom, marginalized peasants in the north and northeast of the country were engaged in a protracted struggle against the Thai developmental model.
