Can Thailand ever be a democracy?
Thailand has a new civilian government headed by the man who led a military coup in 2014.
When you look at a country that has had 12 coups since 1932, along with another seven attempted ones, well, there’s clearly something of a love-hate relationship with democracy.
And so it is in Thailand, which had an election in March, the first since the 2014 coup, and now has a newly confirmed prime minister.
Only this prime minister was the same army general who led that coup, leading to a whole lot of questions about the true state of democracy in Thailand.
On Inside Story, an in-depth discussion on the relationship between the state, military, monarchy, and the people, and why that mixture proves so unstable, time and time again.
Presenter: Kamahl Santamaria
Guests:
Michael Montesano – Coordinator for Thailand Studies Programme at Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore
Sunai Phasuk – Senior researcher for Asia at Human Rights Watch and former adviser to the Thai Senate
Anthony Nelson – Director of East Asia and Pacific Practice at the advisory firm, Albright Stonebridge Group