HISTORY & POLITICSHISTORY1945
WWII ends; Thailand
cedes seized territory
from Laos, Cambodia
and Malaysia.1946
King Bhumibol
Adulyadej (Rama IX)
ascends the throne;
Thailand joins the UN.1957
Sarit Thanarat leads a
coup that introduces
military rule that lasts
until 1973.1959
The fi rst tourist
authority created.known as the People’s Liberation Army of Thailand (PLAT) – based in the
jungles of northern and southern Thailand.
Military control of the country continued through the 1980s. The gov-
ernment of the ‘political soldier’, General Prem Tinsulanonda, enjoyed a
period of political and economic stability. Prem dismantled the commu-
nist insurgency through military action and amnesty programs. But the
country’s new economic success presented a challenging rival: promi-
nent business leaders who criticised the military’s role in government
and their now-dated Cold War mentality. Communists, they maintained,
should be business partners, not enemies.
It’s Just Business
In 1988, Prem was replaced in fair elections by Chatichai Choonhavan,
leader of the Chat Thai Party, who created a government dominated by
well-connected provincial business people. His government shifted pow-
er away from the bureaucrats and set about transforming Thailand into
an ‘Asian Tiger’ economy. But the business of politics was often bought
and sold like a commodity and Chatichai was overthrown by the military
on grounds of extreme corruption. This coup demarcated an emerging
trend in Thai politics: the Bangkok business community and educated
classes siding with the military against Chatichai, his provincial busi-
ness-politicians and their money politics approach to governance.
In 1992, after reinstating elections, an unelected military leader in-
serted himself as prime minister. This was met with popular resistance
and the ensuing civilian-military clash was dubbed ‘Black May’. Led by
former Bangkok mayor, Chamlong Srimuang, around 200,000 protestors
(called the ‘mobile phone mob’, representing their rising urban affl uence)
launched a mass demonstration in Bangkok that resulted in three nights
of violence with armed soldiers. On the night of 20 May, King Bhumibol
called an end to the violence.
After Black May, a new wave of democracy activists advocated for
constitutional reforms. For most of the 1990s, the parliament was domi-
nated by the Democrat Party, which represented the urban middle class
and business interests. Its major base of support came from the southern
Thai population centres. Formerly port towns, these were now dominat-
ed by tourism and exports (rubber, tin and fi shing). On the other side
of the spectrum were the former pro-military politicians based in the
central plains and the people of the agrarian northeast in new provincial
towns who focused on state-budget distribution to their provinces. These
political lines exist today.
In 1997, the boom years went bust and the Asian economic crisis un-
folded. The country’s economy was plagued by foreign-debt burdens, an
overextension in the real-estate sector and a devalued currency. Within
Prem Tinsu-
lanonda serves as
lifelong head of
the Privy Council
of King Bhumibol
and is believed to
be the architect
of the 2006 coup.