ABSTRACT
The sources of frustration in Thai society have multiplied in the wake of the financial crisis of 1997–1999, which devastated a significant proportion of the kingdom’s numerous SMEs, the main providers of employment at the crossroads of the evolution of the socio-economic situation and collective representation. In fact, growth was significantly more marked for the highest incomes (tenth decile) than for the lowest (first decile) over the years 1990–1999, with the correction that a certain number of actors fell back by one or even several deciles as a result of the 1997–1999 crisis. Since the emergence of the concept of “Nation,” the specificity of the former Sultanate of Patani51 has been regularly ignored and its history banned from school curricula. The 1921 decree on compulsory primary education obliged all children to attend four years of schooling in public schools to learn the Siamese language and the basics of Buddhist ethics.
