With the coup d’état of 22 May 2014, Thailand vaulted back to its familiar position as a cautionary tale. After much speculation, General Prayuth Chan-ocha announced that the military was, once again, in charge.
Since the second half of 2013 the opponents of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra ran an effective and demoralising campaign against her government. And there were long worries that a coup — judicial, military or bureaucratic — would end Thailand’s flirtation with representative democracy.