Civil-Military Relations during Transition and Post-Democratisation Periods: A View from Southeast Asia

The civil-military dynamic in Southeast Asia has been a contested issue for years. Although most countries in the region have been undertaken democratic governance, the military role in politics remains relatively unresolved. After having relatively stable civilian governments for over a decade, the Thai military launched another coup in 2014 to topple a democratically elected government. In Indonesia and the Philippines, the military has been moderately controlled by the democratically elected civilian governments, but their professional roles in sustaining democratic principles and values are also questionable. Accordingly, the crucial issues are the role that the military plays in the transition period, such as in Thailand, and the degree to which the military is institutionalised under civilian control in nascent democracies, such as Indonesia and the Philippines. These issues are addressed in the books discussed herein

Book Review: Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (ed.) (2014), Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall

Book Review of the edited volume: Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (ed.) (2014), Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Publishing, ISBN 979-981-4459-60-0, 290 page

Book Review: Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (ed.) (2014), Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall

Book Review of the edited volume: Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (ed.) (2014), Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Publishing, ISBN 979-981-4459-60-0, 290 page

Book Review: Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (ed.) (2014), Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall

Book Review of the edited volume: Chachavalpongpun, Pavin (ed.) (2014), Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Publishing, ISBN 979-981-4459-60-0, 290 page

Book Review: Pavin Chachavalpongpun: Good Coup Gone Bad: Thailand's Political Developments since Thaksin's Downfall

This book addresses a key question: Why has Thailand faced similar threats over the years even though the country has been on a democratic path since the mid-1970s? Coups, a never-ending hazard in Thailand, represent not only the military’s intention to take over the government but also an illegitimate instrument for elite groups to restore the previous order, which had been in place for decades before the new political elite group emerged in the early 2000s. (author's abstract