Places invested with meaning: ‘symbolic place is the keeper of national consciousness and promoter of communality. The national consciousness and self-esteem are fed by tradition and ethnic symbols’ (G. Taylor and S. Spencer 2004). Missingham (2002) Urb. Studs 39, 9 describes Government House, Thailand, in a time of popular protest by the poor: ‘the streets outside Government House are both particular and symbolic. The symbolic and metaphorical meanings of mobilising on the streets and pavements served to highlight the poor’s exclusion from the places of authority and power within the walls of Government House.’