Challenge and Change in East Asia: “Business Populism” in Thailand

Issue Date April 2005
Volume 16
Issue 2
Page Numbers 58-72
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Recently reelected premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his “Thais Love Thais” party offer a fusion of populist rhetoric with policies that serve the interests of the Thai business class.

About the Authors

Pasuk Phongpaichit

Pasuk Phongpaichit is professor of economics at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. 

View all work by Pasuk Phongpaichit

Chris Baker

Chris Baker is an independent writer. With Pasuk Phongpaichit, they have written Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand (2004), Thailand: Economy and Politics, 2nd ed. (2002), and other works.

View all work by Chris Baker

Further Reading

Volume 29, Issue 1

Exchange: How to Tell Nativists from Populists

Contra Ben Margulies, one can clearly mark the boundaries that separate antidemocrats from democrats (nativists included), and nativists from populists. 

Volume 18, Issue 4

Is East-Central Europe Backsliding? From Democracy Fatigue to Populist Backlash

The populist backlash against corruption, the CEE transition-era elites, and the liberal consensus has led to a democratic crisis, but does not portend systemic change.

Volume 23, Issue 2

Personalism and Populism in Nicaragua

For much of its history, Nicaragua has shown a predilection for personalist and populist rule. What explains the persistence and allure of these phenomena, and what obstacles do they pose…