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: Paul Chambers, Napisa Waitoolkiat
Format: Journal
Published: 2018
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Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84974603579&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/56319
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Institution: Chiang Mai University
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spelling th-cmuir.6653943832-563192018-09-05T03:14:46Z The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand Paul Chambers Napisa Waitoolkiat Social Sciences © 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. 2018-09-05T03:14:46Z 2018-09-05T03:14:46Z 2016-07-02 Journal 17527554 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/6653943832/56319
institution Chiang Mai University
building Chiang Mai University Library
country Thailand
collection CMU Intellectual Repository
topic Social Sciences
spellingShingle Social Sciences
Paul Chambers
Napisa Waitoolkiat
The Resilience of Monarchised Military in Thailand
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 Paul Chambers
Napisa Waitoolkiat
author_facet Paul Chambers
Napisa Waitoolkiat
author_sort Paul Chambers
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 2018
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84974603579&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/56319
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