Thailand, 2006–2014

Hybrid Regime · Monarchy · Southeast Asia · The 2010s era

Thailand through a decade of color-coded street politics and repeated military intervention, ending in the 2014 coup.

Thai politics through this period was structured by a recurring conflict between electoral movements associated with Thaksin Shinawatra and a royalist–military–bureaucratic establishment, expressed in mass "red shirt" and "yellow shirt" protests. Governments were removed by court rulings and by a 2006 coup, and street confrontations turned violent. A further military coup in 2014 installed a junta and suspended electoral government.

Open Thailand 2006–2014 in the interactive 3D atlas →

Dominant patterns

  • Revolutionary Risk
  • Institutional Decay

Political-science factor profile

Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).

Centralization of Power55
Media Control55
Repression55
Nationalism62
Militarization65
Economic Stress45
External Conflict30
Cult of Personality45
Elite Fragmentation72
Institutions40
Social Polarization82
Corruption & Patrimonialism60
Ideological Mobilization50
External Sovereignty88

Economy & society

GDP per capita$16k (intl-$)
GDP growth+3%/yr
Population68.0M people
Share of world population0.94%
Urban share47%
Life expectancy75 years

Closest historical twins

The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles Thailand 2006–2014, by similarity score (0–100).

  1. Egypt, 2011–2014 – similarity 77/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk, Institutional Decay
  2. Philippines, 2016–2022 – similarity 68/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk
  3. Turkey, 2002–2011 – similarity 67/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk
  4. Brazil, 2019–2022 – similarity 64/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk
  5. Poland, 2015–2023 – similarity 64/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk
  6. India, 2014–2024 – similarity 63/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk
  7. Turkey, 2013–2023 – similarity 62/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk, Institutional Decay
  8. Mexico, 1910–1920 – similarity 62/100 · shared: Revolutionary Risk, Institutional Decay

What followed

  • The 2014 military coup.
  • Recurring cycles of protest and intervention.