Epilogue: Asymmetrical Relations

Summary

The relationship between monarchy and military in Thailand has been asymmetrical since the beginning. When King Chulalongkorn’s reign gave birth to the modern Thai armed forces in the nineteenth century, their purpose was basically to serve the monarchy. That purpose was much more important than any role they had in national defence, given that fending off armed threats from the British and French empires was always going to be beyond the strength of Siamese forces. Also, the military was then under the command of the absolute monarchy. Thai soldiers took an oath not only to protect the monarchy but also to give loyalty to, to uplift, to glorify and to worship the monarchy as the pillar of the nation and the embodiment of the national spirit. Relations between the two institutions were essentially those of employer and servant, if not sometimes of master and slave. Sometimes in history, no doubt, servants want to have relations of equal partnership with their bosses.

Asymmetrical relations can, however, work to the advantage of both parties. With military protection, the monarchy survives and has the power to govern and to manipulate politics. The military in the meantime draws advantage from those relations in referring to the monarchy as its source of legitimacy as it too manoeuvres politically. This manoeuvring may benefit the military as an institution, one or more of its factions or cliques, or even individual officers. Further, those asymmetrical relations help ensure that the armed forces have no accountability to elected governments.

While the 1932 Revolution saw the monarchy being brought under the constitution, Thai charters—including the current one, sponsored by the military and promulgated in 2017—have positioned the king as the head of the armed forces. King Vajiralongkorn, who enacted the 2017 constitution, has made clear through his actions his intention to go beyond a merely ceremonial role to actually exercise the powers of that position and lead the Thai armed forces as their commander-in-chief.

To that end, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta under the leadership of General Prayut Chan-ocha introduced a number of legal instruments to authorize and justify the enhanced role of the monarchy in relation to the armed forces.