Thailand

Thailand has experienced 13 successful military coups since 1932 — the most of any modern state — creating a governance cycle where elected governments are periodically overthrown when they threaten military or monarchical prerogatives. The 2014 coup, the most recent, installed General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who remained in power for nearly a decade through a military-drafted constitution designed to perpetuate military influence over civilian governance. The monarchy is constitutionally protected by lese-majeste laws that carry penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment per offence, making public discussion of royal affairs effectively impossible. Thailand's economy is Southeast Asia's second-largest, built on automotive manufacturing (the 'Detroit of Asia'), electronics assembly, tourism, and agricultural exports. The governance model resembles a biological system with two competing regulatory mechanisms — democratic elections and military intervention — that alternate control rather than coexisting, producing a cyclical pattern of civilian governance, crisis, coup, and return to elections.