A point of reference frames the world. Life according to a social structure not fully analyzed is common in these parts as is elsewhere, and carries on into the political and economic spheres. The hierarchical society and often times Confucian mindset of the population which unquestioningly bows before authority, coupled with the education system wherein a scholar is often nothing more than a puppet which legitimizes the system brings forth a certain degree of stagnation.
Take for example, the case of the tuk tuk driver and the special 20 baht government tour. Anan is his name, he's a simple sort of fellow with a wife and kids. When asked, he seems concerned about the current state education policy wherein he must pay for his child's future secondary schooling. There's a catch though, there always is. The point being that this tour as advertised by a stranger on the street, likely a commission seeking employee of the local tourist authority, is indeed too good to be true. Sure, the standing Buddha and neighborhood wat are sites to see, but the later induced tourist consumer-based visits is a ploy to get much needed foreign dollars into the hands of those awarded government contracts. The way this system works is that the tuk tuk driver gets a five liter gas card from each of these would-be tailor and souvenir shops advertising the utmost quality in fabrics and likely sweat-shop speed quickness. However, being intent on buying nothing and having the status as an unemployed recent graduate does not work in their favor. The issue here is three-fold, that being: the tuk tuk driver will likely never rise out of the lower economic bracket while his attempts at such legitimizes a government that would prefer to see him stay where he is, and the present model of globalization brokers a sense of continued Western dominance over a peoples who serve as producers of exported commercial goods and pleasure outlets for tourists with stronger currencies and heavier pockets.
In this light, the words of some of those aligned with the PAD within the intellectual class whom we spoke to today inside of the Prime Minister's Office Compound have just cause--their aim is to see a change within their political system wherein the next leader will have to work towards the social welfare of the common people enabling them to achieve upward economic mobility rather than the present corrupt model dominating many political systems in this region in which public officials are in it for personal economic gain while seemingly perpetuating a government based upon nepotism. How this will all play out is still uncertain.
