It seeks to demonstrate how the coup group
was able to draw on the rising royalist sentiment of 2005-06 in order to legitimate
their illegal actions against the elected government. In part, the nature of the 2006
coup leadership is specified by the contrast with the coup group of 1991. The article
offers some provisional observations relating to the political economy of the coup –
how Thaksin’s economic rise was perceived as a threat by some other capitalist
groupings. Finally, it moves to an analysis of the likely post-coup political structure.