Thaksin has a track record of indestructibility. It makes sense that in the difficult years to come the palace will want him on their side.

The main challenge for Thailand's agriculture–its relatively low labor productivity–arises from the persistence of an agricultural peasantry, not its disappearance.

A new form of "political society" has emerged based on the productive interaction between peasant culture and the governing practices of the modern state.

Arguably, the religious elite’s approach and attitude towards Muslims who do not share their ideology also operates through an orientation which sociologist Robert Towler describes as traditionalism. As Towler puts it, “The implicit plea which underlies traditionalism is not for questions to be answered, but for all questioning to be taken away and put under lock and key of a trustworthy authority.”

Rural Thailand's new "political society" is energized by a fundamental desire to be productively connected to sources of power.