The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand

© 2016 Journal of Contemporary Asia. ABSTRACT: This paper argues that conventional notions of Thailand’s military must be re-examined because they misrepresent the military’s role in politics. Instead of examining its material interests, one must also scrutinise the power and legitimacy of Thailand’...

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Main Authors: Chambers P., Waitoolkiat N.
Format: Journal
Published: 2017
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84974603579&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/41729
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Institution: Chiang Mai University
id th-cmuir.6653943832-41729
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spelling th-cmuir.6653943832-417292017-09-28T04:23:05Z The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand Chambers P. Waitoolkiat N. © 2016 Journal of Contemporary Asia. ABSTRACT: This paper argues that conventional notions of Thailand’s military must be re-examined because they misrepresent the military’s role in politics. Instead of examining its material interests, one must also scrutinise the power and legitimacy of Thailand’s armed forces in terms of its connection to monarchy over time. The relationship between monarchy and military represents a “parallel state”, whereas the ideology, rituals and processes within this relationship result in what can be termed a “monarchised military.” The purpose of this nexus is to sustain a palace-centred order from which the military obtains legitimacy. From 1991 until 2014, the monarchised military mostly operated behind a defective democracy, although it occasionally carried out coups to re-assert the palace’s authority. Its more recent political intrusions have enhanced the military’s power on Thailand’s political stage. Civilian prime ministers have unsuccessfully sought to reign in the military, but to no avail owing to the armed forces’ close association with monarchy. 2017-09-28T04:23:05Z 2017-09-28T04:23:05Z 2016-07-02 Journal 00472336 2-s2.0-84974603579 10.1080/00472336.2016.1161060 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84974603579&origin=inward http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/41729
institution Chiang Mai University
building Chiang Mai University Library
country Thailand
collection CMU Intellectual Repository
description © 2016 Journal of Contemporary Asia. ABSTRACT: This paper argues that conventional notions of Thailand’s military must be re-examined because they misrepresent the military’s role in politics. Instead of examining its material interests, one must also scrutinise the power and legitimacy of Thailand’s armed forces in terms of its connection to monarchy over time. The relationship between monarchy and military represents a “parallel state”, whereas the ideology, rituals and processes within this relationship result in what can be termed a “monarchised military.” The purpose of this nexus is to sustain a palace-centred order from which the military obtains legitimacy. From 1991 until 2014, the monarchised military mostly operated behind a defective democracy, although it occasionally carried out coups to re-assert the palace’s authority. Its more recent political intrusions have enhanced the military’s power on Thailand’s political stage. Civilian prime ministers have unsuccessfully sought to reign in the military, but to no avail owing to the armed forces’ close association with monarchy.
format Journal
author Chambers P.
Waitoolkiat N.
spellingShingle Chambers P.
Waitoolkiat N.
The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
author_facet Chambers P.
Waitoolkiat N.
author_sort Chambers P.
title The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
title_short The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
title_full The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
title_fullStr The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
title_full_unstemmed The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
title_sort resilience of monarchised military in thailand
publishDate 2017
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84974603579&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/41729
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