Quoted: “The old elite and bureaucratic elite are afraid of losing power,” said Thongchai Winichakul, professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who added that Mr. Abhisit will soon have to choose between becoming an authoritarian leader or calling elections that Mr. Thaksin’s supporters are likely to win. “Rural and poor people found that democracy, elections, were good for them, after decades of bureaucratic and aristocratic rule and after years of elections that neglected them. Thai democracy, since 1997 at least, began to work well for the poor at the expense of the elite.
Office of Strategic Communication