Thais may have every right to distrust participatory political institutions. In the past they have largely worked to benefit corrupt and self-serving politicians, but until the necessary efforts are made to strengthen these institutions, the threat of rule under authoritarian populists looms. Moreover, if state institutions can be increasingly viewed as legitimate, there will be limited popular support for alternative ways of changing governments and thus little room for a military that seeks to flex its
muscles as ‘guardian of democracy’. Minimizing the power of elected officials is unlikely to be the solution to strengthening democracy.