Until the 1970s the politics of local communities and those of the capital were relatively independent. Thus earlier studies of rural Thai society paid little, if any, attention to national electoral politics and justifiably so (see, for example, the papers in Neher 1979b) There were few links between the political centre and rural areas through the administrative system, Scott, writing in the language of the paradigm of the day, was able to assert in the mid 1970s that vertical integration of patron-client clusters did not go much beyond civil and military bureaucratic circles, and that rural patron-client clusters were "of purely local significance' and were "not highly politicised' (Scott 1977: 141). This has changed with the ascendance of parliament and a reduction in the power of the bureau cracy. National political office is now worth contesting vigorously and potential parliamentarians need to mobilize rural votes his study demonstrates just how much this has changed and how tightly integrated national and local politics are