A closer look into studies on participation in developing countries reveals another significant imbalance, one of a regional scope. Since the 1970s, many developing countries have democratized, constituting the third wave of democracy.1 The third wave of democracy started in Southern Europe and continued through Latin America onward to Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Unlike Southern Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and even Africa, Asia has not been the focus of many participation studies. Thus, in contrast to just simply taking the path of least resistance by analyzing another developed country, another election in a previously studied developed country, or even a country in a relatively well-studied region of the third wave, I take the more difficult path and attempt to offer balance to the literature by analyzing participation in a developing Asian country, Thailand.
Thailand is an important case as it is not only in an understudied region, Asia, but it is also a developing democracy. The importance of the Thai case is further amplified by the fact that in 2006, Thailand reverted to an authoritarian regime by military coup. Moreover, Thailand experienced several contested elections with high turnout during its democratic period, but again, these events are consistently marginalized in the literature. For these reasons, Thailand makes an overall excellent case study for better understanding the causal mechanisms involved in participation. Therefore, the main question guiding this study is: What effect does SES have on turnout in Thai elections? I address this question theoretically by analyzing the impact of socioeconomic variables, education, and income on turnout.