ABSTRACT
The nature of the relationship between the distribution of power in a society and decision-making in that society is crucial to the present analysis. It has been asserted that primate city parasitism is much more likely to exist in a situation in which an elite monopolizes power and dominates decision-making and policy implementation than in a case in which power is decentralized. This chapter examines whether or not a centralized elite has monopolized power and decision-making at various points in Thai history by discovering which groups have held effective power and how they have interacted with less powerful groups. It discusses the process of transition in contemporary Thailand as one possible “path” in the hypothetical evolution from power elite to ruling class. Beginning in the middle to late sixties, social science literature on Thailand underwent a subtle but persistent shift in content and emphasis.
