Only when Thailand has enough salaried workers and business people who pay taxes will we mature as a democratic country, says economist Dr Narong Petchprasert
Dr Narong Petchprasert of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Economics believes that the middle classes are key to the viability of a stable democracy in the capitalistic world.
"So the problem facing Thailand at the moment is that there aren't yet enough middle-classes in this country."
Those categorised as middle class are principally salaried workers in both the private and public sectors, as well as other wage earners, small- and medium-sized businessmen, vendors, and the self-employed.
"Altogether, they're around 30 per cent of the entire voting population, so they're easily outnumbered by the poorer voters who form the majority of up to 50-60 per cent of all the voters.
"Among the poorest of the poor population are about three million workers in the agricultural sector. They have low level or no education at all, so they're the most underprivileged in society.
"Today, the farming sector contributes only 10 per cent to the country's GDP while the number of people in agriculture has dropped to only 12 million, accounting for one-third of the entire workforce of 38 million.
"Then, there are about 11 million workers in the industrial sector who have a better quality of life than those working on the farms. Then, there are another three million bureaucrats and those working in the public sector.
"In Europe, middle classes, who are the foundation of modern democracy, account for as much as 80-90 per cent of the population, so they won't have the problems we face here.
"In my opinion, some level of education and political development are the prerequisites for a stable democracy that delivers results via the execution of sound and effective public policy. This means the middle classes must be large enough and they must be quite politically active and serve as the counterveiling power at the polls.
"The percentage of people paying income tax is another key indicator. If we have a wider base of taxpayers, the quality of a democracy is likely to be better. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, for example, 80-90 per cent of the overall voters pay income taxes, so they're very active politically.
"As for Thailand, there are about 45 million eligible voters while the number of income tax payers is only around 4 million. That's roughly just 10 per cent, as most low-income earners are not subject to income taxes.
"When we have a lot of voters who are dirt-poor, little educated or uneducated, they tend to be shortsighted politically. They could be happy with short-term gains such as easy handouts from politicians, regardless of the politicians' corruption.
"However, I'm still optimistic as far as our demography is concerned. Over the next 7-8 years, the country's middle-classes are projected to expand significantly [as a result of economic expansion].
"In addition, there will be more senior citizens in the country due to longer life spans, so more and more existing workers will climb up the economic ladder to make ends meet.
"In other words, there will be more lower-middle income groups who will assert their political rights in coming years as they join forces with other middle income groups [to form the majority of voters]."
"Moreover, I think we should promote more workers' unions as part of democratic development at the grass-root level," he says.