THIS paper examines the process of emergence of the middle classes1 in Thailand and their social consciousness, and focuses on how these reflect salient features of the country’s developmental process. In political and social analyses of Thailand in the 1990s, the urban “middle class” (or chonchan klaang in Thai) has been identified as an affluent class consisting of homogeneous urban- based elites, as distinct from farmers and other people on the lower rungs of soci- ety’s ladder (Funatsu 2000). This is a class which, though small in size, wields strong political clout. It has been considered one of the most influential actors in po- litical developments in Thailand in recent years, and in particular, it has played an important role in the processes of democratization and political reforms that fol- lowed the “Bloody May Massacre of 1992” (Ockey 1999; Girling 1996). As such, it can be included as one of the most politicized of the middle classes, discussion of which makes up the theme of the present special issue.