Equally worrying for the LPRP has been the rapid democratization of Thai society throughout the 1990s. The growth of a large and confident Thai middle class as a result of Thailand's economic trans formation not only produced clear demands for democracy but also gave rise to sophisticated discourses on culture and society, and on Than history. These are not only changing Thai perceptions of themselves, but also their perceptions of the region and of Laos. As the Thai grapple with the consequences of many years of authoritarian rule and rapid capitalist development, with all the social and cultural locations and problems these have caused, they are inclined to look nostalgically towards a Laos whose cultural practices seem to embody a world they have lost. Thai tourists now make pilgrimages to this 'lost world' in search of solace. Other Thai, awash with aggressive modernization, see the Lao as backward country hicks, the butt of jokes which, naturally, the Lao are hyper-sensitive) (to The Lao are equally ambivalent about the Thai. On the one hand they admire their modernity and sophistication, which since the late 1980s they have avidly followed via Thai TV. On the other hand via this same medium, they are exposed daily to all of the most u tractive and frightening consequences of Thailand's rapid economic ascent- which the Lao characterize as typically Thai, whether they be problems of drug addiction, gangsterism, prostitution, corruption or marital breakdown, Lao leaders seem to think that authoritarian rule is the way to protect Laos from these dire consequences, but it is no more likely to be successful than was authoritarian rule in Thailand Authoritarian rule prevents frank and open discussion of such social problems, and in communist systems the discouragement of voluntary associations to deal with social problems means that they are usually dealt with even less adequately than elsewhere