| Summary/Abstract |
Under cover of ambiguous pledges of reform, General Prayuth Chan-ocha and his junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), have created the most repressive regime in Thailand since a period of military rule inaugurated by an October 1976 massacre and coup. Prayuth’s seizure of power, launched on May 22, 2014, was the twelfth successful coup since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932. The 2007 constitution (the country’s eighteenth) was abrogated overnight, martial law put in place, and the jurisdiction of the military courts extended to civilians for crimes against the crown and state. Now, more than a year after the coup, martial law has been revoked but there is no clear sign of either a new constitution or an election.
|