Happy Coup Day Thailand – 8 year anniversary of the 2014 military coup – OPINION

Yes, it was today, 8 years ago, today, when the elected PM Yingluck Shinawatra and her Pheu Thai government was unceremoniously dumped in yet another Thai military coup. The Thai army, under the pleasant name of the National Council for Peace and Order, argued that they had to seize power from the elected government to break a legal and political impasse. Whether it was an actual “legal and political impasse” or not is for Thai political scholars to debate.

Since 1932, when Siam changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, there has been 20 charters, interim charters and constitutions, in each case either promoting greater democracy, or implementing changes whereby the military retain a strong say in the politics of the country. The first military coup happened only one year after the bloodless coup removed the absolute powers of the Siamese King. There has…