Emerging Ideology of Commercial State in Thailand

Abstract

In the 2017 Constitution of Kingdom of Thailand there was a call to create a National Strategy of the country’s development. The 20-year National Strategy was adopted in October 2018 by the National Council for Peace and Order. A major part of this strategy deals with the problem of Thai provinces’ separatist movements and increasing Bangkok’s political and social control. To achieve these goals, a new ideology of “commercial nation” was created that contrasts with the more traditional “community democracy” approach. While the ideology of commercial state may be a useful vehicle for urbanising Thai provinces in the future, conquering separatist trends and articulating new priorities for the Thai population, it is still pure ideology and it cannot be applied practically in the form in which it was formulated. However, the “commercial state” ideology may be an instructive example of new techniques for social unifying people in developing countries.