Views and Criticisms of the Military’s Role in Thai Politics in the Future of Democracy

Abstract

This academic article aimed to study the views and criticisms of the military’s role in Thai politics in the future of democracy by collecting information from academic documents, articles, textbooks, newspapers, magazines, journals. It was found that 1) in terms of the role of the military in current Thai politics, the crystallization of the thoughts of people in society gave the view that at present, the military had no attitude towards interfering in politics, wanting to restore faith in the profession rather than from the attitude of the military leaders; 2) in the aspect of the role of the military in Thai politics in the future, the military will turn its attention to military professionalism more as an organization protecting the country; 3) the Thai military's views on the factors in the coup d’etat was caused by the ideology of authoritarianism in order to create a mechanism to control power in governing the country in 5 ways: (1) corrupt behavior, (2) political officials used their power to oppress honest civil servants, (3) the government was a parliamentary dictatorship, (4) the destruction of the military establishment, (5) distortion of the case to overthrow the monarchy. The direction of Thai democracy in the future will have stability in Thai politics and will lead to a good state; 5) for political attitudes and the future context of the military and Thai politics, the military may not have a perspective on Thai politics. But it also had a role of influence and relationship with the public in the field of education. (Army Non-commissioned Officer School, Military Engineer School, Cadet Academy); 6) the guidelines for preventing a coup d’etat by allowing the state to control the economic empire of the military because when the military was involved with the economy. It will have the motivation to get involved in politics.