The urban middle classes were the greatest beneficiary of the economic boom generated in the Sarit years, and the growth of this heterogeneous social formation was one of the more striking developments in the post- war period(Pasuk 1980: 19), Bangkok became the centre of consumption for a growing Thai and Sino-Thai middle stratum and the focus of social mobility and status acquisition. Expansion saw growth and diversification across a spectrum of occupations in the private sector, including small- scale trade, technical, manufacturing and service sectors. These groups comprised a broad petty bourgeoisie whose opportunities grew with the professional burgeoning urban domestic economy, a and white an stratum which spanned both government services and and entrepreneurial bourgeoisie whose fortunes were linked more directly to overseas capital(Anderson 1977) .