People in power are toward Bangkok as the economic, cultural and political center of the country. Concentric spheres of interest radiate from there, the more peripheral the area the less important to centralized bureaucrats, unless elements out on the fringe pose some kind of threat. Traditionally, civil servants were punished by being sent to the more remote provinces, which also received less money, less thought, less education, and less development. Banditry and lawlessness also occurred there more commonly than in central areas, and were less diligently checked. In recent years, however,the central spheres of interest are getting larger, the remote margins of the country smaller.