Nicholas Farrelly

Why democracy struggles: Thailand's elite coup culture

Since the revolution of 1932 that ended absolute monarchy, Thailand has experienced sporadic military interventions, with 19 coups and coup attempts over those decades. This article explains these military interventions by emphasising the cultural aspects of Thai coup-making at the elite level. Concretely, the article shows that episodic military interventionism—supported by significant and persistent military influence in politics—is now part of a distinctive elite coup culture. In contrast to other so-called ‘coup-prone’ states, Thailand has largely accommodated military interventionism, especially by accepting the defence of the monarchy as a justification for toppling elected governments. Thailands reluctance to redemocratise, and the haphazardness of the resulting institutional configurations, suggests that Thailands elite—and, to some extent, the public as well—have deeply internalised the ultimate acceptability of coups. The test of this arrangement may come with the end of King Bhumibol Adulyadejs reign and the potential realignment of military influence in Thai society.

Discipline without democracy: Military dominance in post-colonial Burma

After five decades in which military dominance defined post-colonial politics, Burma has recently embarked on a long-delayed process of political reform. The gradual democratisation of the countrys political institutions has meant that the history of its two twentieth-century coups is increasingly overlooked. This article presents a focused study of military interventionism in Burma and offers explanations for the successful entrenchment of military rule. The mindset of the military leadership and its success at sidelining opponents is explored alongside a preliminary consideration of the role that international support has played. Crucially, military leaders have been exasperated by what they consider feeble (and foreign-controlled) civilian authorities that have been incapable of preventing national fragmentation. This mindset, plus effective repression and support by neighbouring countries such as China, formed the basis of the militarys rule. Therefore, the prospects of future democratisation efforts will rely on a fuller understanding of the processes that led the armed forces to exert consistent dominance.

Cooperation, contestation, conflict: ethnic political interests in Myanmar today

In the period of social and political transformation that followed the election of President Thein Sein, ethnic politics remained a major preoccupation for the Myanmar government, ethnic peoples and the international community. Explaining the varieties of ethnic political interests that are emerging requires a new analytical framework in which the nascent electoral system is given adequate attention. This article argues that cooperation and contestation are now vying with conflict as primary drivers of ethnic politics. To account adequately for the interaction of these concepts, the article introduces various pieces of evidence concerning the different manifestations of ethnic political interests today. It describes an ambiguous situation in which the overall pattern of ethnic politics is changing rapidly. The challenge remains of fully reconciling Myanmars diverse peoples and including them in one political system.

‘AK47/M16 Rifle – Rs. 15,000 each’: what price peace on the Indo-Burmese frontier?

One of the key tools for achieving Indias stated ambition of stopping national fragmentation in the Northeast is the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (1958) (AFSPA). This article assesses Indian Government efforts to manage the parts of the Indo-Burmese borderlands that are subject to this law. It compares the approaches of governments on the Burmese and Indian sides of the frontier and interrogates the financial incentives that complement security policies in their shared borderlands. Economic incentives for ceasefire and disarmament are, I argue, part of a portfolio of pacification and reintegration strategies that are premised on the controlled ambiguities of the borderlands. As such, I argue that the impunities allegedly at the heart of the AFSPA are matched by the freedom of the Indian Government to funnel resources into paying off its enemies. In the Indian case, the wider environment in which the AFSPA is implemented cannot be ignored if a full analysis of its 50 years of operation is to be offered. The implementation of surrender agreements in the ambiguous space of the Indo-Burmese borderlands exemplifies how the Indian Government has prioritised national cohesion above legal, political or economic consistency.

NORTHERN THAILAND'S SPECTER OF EVICTION

Discussions of resource management and development in northern Thailand often emphasize the threat of eviction faced by uplanders living in forest reserve zones. This “specter of eviction” is to be found in official government policy, in academic accounts of highland development, and in the activist writings of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The review of the literature in this article suggests, however, that very few evictions have in fact taken place since the early 1980s and the threat of eviction in accounts written over the past two decades is exaggerated. The authors examine some of the political, practical, and policy reasons why the rate of eviction has been very low. They conclude by arguing that reliance on the specter of eviction by activist academics and NGOs seeking to defend the rights of upland farmers results in a political strategy that is disempowering and disengaged from current livelihood realities.

Beyond Electoral Authoritarianism in Transitional Myanmar

This article reassesses notions of ‘electoral authoritarianism’ as applied to the changed political terrain in Myanmar. It examines the various mechanisms through which the lingering influences of earlier political contestation are being integrated into transitional Myanmar’s public and social life. While the evolving Myanmar system is inevitably informed by the dictatorial experience there is a new effort to embrace counter-currents in the shift away from long-term military rule. The argument is that the transitional system mobilises key elements and personnel from the dictatorial period alongside growing opportunities for those who most actively opposed the military dictatorship, including in the pivotal 1988 period. The paradox of political culture under these arrangements means that the notion of a stable electorally authoritarian model needs careful reappraisal. Such stability has been replaced by an appreciation that incremental liberalisation and gradually increasing participation can help to change an entrenched political order. The efforts of the transitional government (2011 to 2015) to implement changes to the economy, the political system and the wider social situation have ensured that creeping reform has become the new norm in a post-authoritarian system where compromise had previously been hard to find.

Transnational Flows of Military Talent: The Contrasting Experiences of Burma and Thailand since the 1940s

Parts of mainland South East Asia claim the tragic distinction of hosting the world’s longest running civil wars. Some of these wars began in the 1940s; fighters from World War II enjoyed no respite as they were quickly drawn into the local conflagrations that followed the global war. While combat, support, training and supply have remained largely the preserve of South East Asians there have been foreigners, like the ‘visitors’ introduced above, who have sought to make their own contributions. Across decades, transnational flows of foreign military talent have remained integral to the landscape of security, resistance and conflict in this region. Whether ‘government advisors’, ‘mercenaries’, ‘adventurers’ or ‘loons’ they have become enmeshed in wars of ambush and attrition where any front lines are obscured by a sometimes impenetrable mix of history, ethnicity, geography and culture. Understanding the experiences of foreign fighters requires attention to the long-term social, political and economic characteristics of the region. To explain transnational flows of military talent in mainland South East Asia this chapter explores the situation in two adjacent countries, Burma2 and Thailand, and argues that they present contrasting yet mutually reinforcing histories of foreign entanglements. The focus here is the ethnic minority forces, former colonial officers, Chinese militias, government advisors and ‘adventurers’ who have helped shape South East Asia’s long wars.

Mutinies, coups and military interventionism: Papua New Guinea and South-East Asia in comparison

Scholars of civil–military relations have long been puzzled by the fact that despite a series of mutinies, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has never seen a full-blown military takeover. Indeed, when PNG became independent in the early 1970s, some veteran PNG watchers had predicted that the country was likely to follow in the footsteps of many coup-prone African countries. In this article, the authors highlight the reasons for the surprising absence of coups in PNG by comparing the country to three South-East Asian nations that have experienced coups. By contrasting PNG with Indonesia, Burma and Thailand, the authors identify five key factors that have prevented coups in the former and facilitated them in the latter: first, the role that the military played in the struggle for independence or modern statehood; second, the size of the armed forces; third, the militarys organisational capacity; fourth, geographical conditions and the militarys command structure; and finally, the general relationship between civilian and military elites.

Practical and Auspicious: Thai Handbook Knowledge for Agriculture and the Environment

Abstract This article is the first thorough examination of the Thai handbooks that are produced to explain agricultural and environmental knowledge. These khu-meu (handbooks) and tamra (textbooks) come into use when knowledge is moving from one party to another. They also establish symbolic correlations within the human, terrestrial world, or between the human, terrestrial world and the worlds of the gods, spirits, ancestors, or the unseen. Despite the fact that handbooks are pervasive for the organising, preserving, retrieving, transmitting and consuming of knowledge throughout the Southeast Asian region, there has been very little concerted study of handbook knowledge. Our analysis of environmental handbooks in Thailand shows that simplified mastery is a common goal of the handbook genre in both its “how to” and “reading signs” forms. The knowledge captured by the Thai language handbooks is of a practical, predictive kind and suited to particular circumstances. Such knowledge can ultimately bridge and blur the dichotomy between scientific and local epistemologies.

Internationalizing Minimal English: Perils and Parallels

This chapter links the development of Minimal English to the concerns of practitioners and analysts of international affairs. Using examples from the Asian region, the authors suggest that, in this new era of multipolar intercultural relations, the need for neutral languages for coordination is greater than ever. A case study of US–China relations shows that using English in ways that do not acknowledge its heavy cultural and power baggage can invite misunderstanding and resistance. The authors argue that Minimal English offers a chance to move from a mode of domination and socialization to a mode of coordination and renegotiation.