Lineages of the Authoritarian State in Thailand: Military Dictatorship, Lazy Capitalism and the Cold War Past as Post-Cold War Prologue

The legacies of Cold War authoritarianism in Thailand have continued to the present, including in the conduct and the outcome of the 2019 general elections. In this article it is argued that not only did Cold War precedents like the 1969 general election help shape this lineage, but the practices of Cold War authoritarian regimes in Thailand, including the promotion of "lazy" forms of capitalism based heavily on absolute value strategies, shaped development and the labour force in ways that have also contributed to enduring authoritarian tendencies. This argument is made by reviewing the underpinnings of the 1969 election as well as by reviewing how Thailand's industrial and labour force structures evolved in this particular authoritarian context, contrasting the Thailand case with that of Cold War South Korea.