To understand the present political struggle in Thailand it is necessary to look at recent Thai history as well as to understand important demographic and economic trends in the country. From an economic and demographic standpoint two trends are important. The first characteristic of the Thai economy that stands out to the experienced social scientist is that development in Thailand is heavily asymmetrical (Wyatt, 2003). Bangkok has benefitted disproportionately from government investments in infrastructure and from foreign direct investment. Wages and household income are much higher in Central Thailand than in the rest of the country. Another important observation is that the inhabitants of the upper South and central Bangkok share a similar culture which is very different from that of the Deep South and from that of the North and Northeast (Mulder, 1996, 2000). Superficial research shows that a few centuries ago those regions were completely separate Kingdoms (Heidhues, 2000). Therefore, two conclusions have been reached, first that economic growth and development has not reached the entire country, and second that there are important socio-cultural differences between different regions of the country.