Author Archive

Dulyaphab Chaturongkul (Thammasat University, Thailand)

Dulyaphab Chaturongkul is a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University, Thailand. His research examined the role of ideology—namely, its empirically ascertainable manifestations (with particular emphasis on Thailand)—in the shaping of a realist account of pluralism and democratic disagreement. More broadly, his research interests lie at the crossroads of the descriptive and the normative study of modern pluralist society.

The latest mass uprisings in Thailand have driven a wedge between people who remained complacent towards the status quo and people who sought to upend what they saw as conservative authoritarianism by resorting to rally politics. The latter wished to take matters into their own hands and steer the country in a more democratic direction as faith in mainstream political actors dwindled. Should marginalized civil-society actors not take drastic measures, future political trajectories will remain shrouded in conservative mist. A military coup in 2014 had enabled the conservative establishment to tighten its grip on the country’s politics. This is not a one-off incident but a recurring pattern in Thailand’s modern history. Via military coups, conservative forces have always found a …