Thailand’s governments have been only too aware of the disparity problem and the political hazards of rural disadvantage. For the past half century, attempts to promote rural development have been the central feature of the relationship between the Thai state and the peasantry. These attempts certainly did not start with Thaksin Shinawatra’s populism. His policy initiatives were consistent with a long-term trend that has gathered pace since the communist threat emerged in the 1950s and since newly-assertive farmer’s organizations moved onto the national stage in the 1970s. in simple terms, the Thai government, like governments in many other developing countries, has moved from taxing the rural economy to subsidizing it. Government funding in the form of infrastructure, price support, subsidized credit, economic development, health, welfare and education has become an integral part of the complex livelihood mix pursued by peasant households throughout rural Thailand. Irrigation infrastructure, community-based project, agricultural subsidy schemes and ever-active construction sites are local manifestations of the Thai state’s high-profile presence in the rural economy