The Impact of Populism Process on Thai state

Abstract

Abstract

This article highlights to show the phenomenon of process to building populism with Thai state, which was studied by applying the constructivism theory and populism that come as a framework for analysis, including the impact of populism in Thai state. Along with studying the real phenomenon of populism in Thai state and gathering information from key informants involved, including academics, lawyers, social activists, media and politicians. The data was gathered by in-depth interviews.

The result showed that the influence of families and the current constitutional law encourages populism; most constitutional laws have the gaps to create populism. Political parties and politicians create populism through public policy. Also, populism in the Thai state is seen as following the populist style in Latin America. This affects the Thai state, whether inequality, social stratification, and economic support systems affect as short-term economic stimulation but, on the other hand, affects the long-term make public debt. Besides, populism is also used as a tool for creating party policies for the campaign. The significant effects lead to conflicts between rural people and urban people. However, in the cultural dimension found that most people are satisfied with populist policies, people need to benefit from the implementation of the policy rather than the advantage of the whole social structure.

Keywords:  Constructivism, Populist Process, Thai state