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No End in Sight for Thailand's Turbulent Politics

Zsombor Peter

   BANGKOK - When Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha swears in his new
   cabinet this month, the ex-general who toppled Thailand's elected
   government five years ago will officially return civilian rule to a
   country that has made a cottage industry of coup d'états.

   Prayuth's May 2014 military putsch was Thailand's 13th since the
   kingdom morphed into a constitutional monarchy in 1932, not counting
   the ones that failed.

   On taking power, he vowed to break that cycle by healing the deep
   social schisms that have riven the country in recent generations. After
   a half-decade of military rule, though, analysts say Thailand is as
   divided as ever, if not more.

   Pundits already are predicting when, not if, the new government will
   collapse.

   "I would be amazed if this government lasts the whole four-year term.
   ... I think the question is: Just how long can it go on?" said Peter
   Mumford, head of Southeast Asia coverage for the Eurasia Group, a
   political risk consultancy.

   The government did not reply to multiple requests to comment for this
   story.

   Prayuth's ruling coalition in Parliament is an awkward amalgam of 19
   parties stitched together with cabinet seat handouts and competing
   political promises, the result of a messy general election in March
   that offered up no clear winners.

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