So, to sum up, there is an elite conflict in progress in Thailand, but there is also a widening of the political nation, which is challenging the political structure. Thaksin and his coterie set out to displace the bureaucracy and the old political establishment, represented especially by the democrat party. At the beginning, this was an elite conflict, and it is still in progress. The democrats now hold power, and are desperate to prevent Thaksin returning. But the conflict then flowed beyond the elites. Thaksin, despite everything in his background, became the instrument of a demand, bubbling up from below, for a fairer society. Thaksin was transformed by this force into a kind of politician common in most countries, but very new in Thailand – a stump populist who claims the direct support of the people. He thus became a trigger for the mass of people to find meaning in the vote as a means to better themselves