Preface

Summary

This paper documents significant events that occurred during the 22 March election, the May crisis, and the 13 September election. It also examines the political significance of those events in the context of Thailand's political development — or underdevelopment.

The latest general election in September was part of the chain of political events since the military coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Chatitchai Choonhavan in February 1991. The coup led by General Suchinda Kraprayoon, the then Chief of the Army, set the stage for the 22 March election, which led to the military “May crackdown” on the demonstrators, the dissolution of the House of Representatives, and eventually the September election, the country's nineteenth since 1932, when parliamentary democracy was first adopted.

The September election did bring about a democratic government. But that was only a part of the whole political picture of Thailand. The democratic government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai is one side of the coin, in which the military remains in control of the other half. Indeed, the struggle for dominance between the military and a democratically established civilian rule is still the most important feature in contemporary Thai politics.

The military was the most powerful political force during the 1950s and 1960s. With the adoption of Western-style economic development in 1961 by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, and with the large-scale introduction of Americanization to the Thai educational and bureaucratic systems — which saw a great number of students going to the United States — the country gradually produced other forces in the society, notably the intellectuals and, to a limited extent, the modern business class. These new forces which began to be more visible in the 1970s are democratically oriented.

The weakening of the military institution and the strengthening of the intellectuals converged in the dramatic event of 14 October 1973 when a student-led uprising was launched against military rule.