The Wheel of Crisis in Thailand

Photo by Takeaway, licensed under CC BY SA.

For decades, Thailand has been entangled in a cycle of political turmoil that oscillates between elections, street protests, and coups both military and judicial. Although this dynamic has dominated in Thailand since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, what we term the “wheel of crisis” has increased its rotational speed since the 1997 Asian economic collapse. This Hot Spot series inquires into the underlying conditions of Thailand's recent political upheavals, with sections focusing on legal and political stuctures (Hewison, Haberkorn, Streckfuss, Sinpeng, Chachavalpongpun, and Winichakul), social divisions and citizenship (Mills, Elinoff, McCargo, and Arafat Bin Mohamad), the turning of civil society against democracy (Phatharathananunth, and Sae Chua), and larger structure questions (Tausig, Sopranzetti, and Aulino).

Posts in This Series

Introduction: The Wheel of Crisis in Thailand

Introduction: The Wheel of Crisis in Thailand

For decades, Thailand has been entangled in a cycle of political turmoil that oscillates between elections, street protests, and coups both military and judicia... More

Judicial Politicization as Political Conservatism

Judicial Politicization as Political Conservatism

In many jurisdictions, the courts are an independent institution that underpins democracy and the rule of law. Thailand’s experience has been different. The Con... More

Article 17, a Totalitarian Movement, and a Military Dictatorship

Article 17, a Totalitarian Movement, and a Military Dictatorship

. . . whenever the Prime Minister deems it appropriate for the purpose of impressing or suppressing actions, whether of internal or external origin, which jeopa... More

The End of the Endless Exception? Time Catches Up With Dictatorship in Thailand

The End of the Endless Exception? Time Catches Up With Dictatorship in Thailand

Carl Schmitt (2005, 1) famously states, “Sovereign is he who decides on the exception.” Declaring the situation as no longer normal, Schmitt (2005, 13) says, “r... More

The Cyber Coup

The Cyber Coup

In the period between the two most recent coups in Thailand, from 2006 to 2014, there was a political consensus among governments, elected or otherwise, that In... More

Academic Freedom Under Siege

Academic Freedom Under Siege

In the aftermath of the May 22, 2014 coup, the military junta embarked on eliminating the thorns in its side. These include politicians associated with the depo... More

The Last Gasp of Royalist Democracy

The Last Gasp of Royalist Democracy

Since the mid-1970s, except for a few years under military regimes, Thailand has functioned politically under what I term “royalist democracy,” a system in whic... More

Questioning Thailand’s Rural-Urban Divide

Questioning Thailand’s Rural-Urban Divide

Among the many troubling features of Thailand’s ongoing political crisis is its persistent description as an urban-versus-rural conflict. Rural-urban opposition... More

Like Everyone Else

Like Everyone Else

In December of 2008, some three or four turns back on the wheel of crisis, I attended a Red Shirt rally at the National Stadium in Bangkok. Just outside the ent... More

Double Trouble: Thailand's Two Souths, Thailand's Two Conflicts

Double Trouble: Thailand's Two Souths, Thailand's Two Conflicts

Thailand’s recent political conflicts are in some ways all about the South: southerners have been at the core of both Red Shirt and Yellow Shirt / People’s Demo... More

Red Shirts, Yellow Shirts, Same Difference

Red Shirts, Yellow Shirts, Same Difference

“There have been two explosions at the market. Could you pick us up?” asked my friend in a text message on May 24, 2014. Just a few seconds earlier, I heard sev... More

Civil Society Against Democracy

Civil Society Against Democracy

Once the leading force against military dictatorship, Thai civil society organizations have turned themselves into anti-democratic forces. This astonishing turn... More

Revisiting “People’s Politics”

Revisiting “People’s Politics”

At the end of 2013, people came out on the streets of Bangkok to protest the so-called blanket amnesty bill, proposed by the government led by Pheu Thai prime m... More

Party Anthems

Party Anthems

Following protest music in twenty-first-century Thailand, tracking songs as they stream from cell phones plugged into motorcycle speakers and flit about the Int... More

Political Legitimacy in Thailand

Political Legitimacy in Thailand

On May 22, 2014, as this collection was in the early stages of production, Army Commander General Prayuth Chan-Ocha seized power, staging the twelfth successful... More

Hierarchy and the Embodiment of Change

Hierarchy and the Embodiment of Change

Social hierarchy in Thailand is deeply rooted and distinctly marked by physical deference. As Thailand tumbles into the uncertainty of extended military rule fo... More