The roots of the 2014 coup reach back at least to 2006, when the military overthrew Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra after months of street protests. Thaksin had been the first Thai prime minister to complete a full term, and his populist policies had won deep loyalty in the rural north and northeast. His removal did not end his influence. From self-imposed exile, Thaksin continued to shape Thai politics through proxy parties -- first the People's Power Party, then the Pheu Thai Party. In 2011, his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra won a landslide election and became prime minister, a victory that enraged the Bangkok establishment. By November 2013, former Democrat Party secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban was leading mass anti-government protests through the capital, demanding an unelected "people's council" to supervise political reforms. Suthep later claimed he had been in talks with General Prayut since 2010 about how to exclude the Shinawatra family from power.

When martial law was declared on 20 May, the army insisted it was not staging a coup -- merely restoring order after months of intermittent violence between pro- and anti-government factions. General Prayut established a Peace and Order Maintaining Command, stationed soldiers at intersections across Bangkok, and seized control of television stations. He then summoned rival political leaders to the Thai Army Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road for negotiations. The talks went nowhere. The caretaker government, citing constitutional obligation, refused to resign. The anti-government PDRC wanted the Shinawatra political machine dismantled entirely. After two fruitless days, Prayut turned to Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri and asked whether the government would step down. When Chaikasem replied "Not at this moment," the general delivered his famous apology and ordered soldiers to detain every faction leader present. By evening, the National Council for Peace and Order had formally assumed control of the state.

The military banned political gatherings of more than five people, imposed a nationwide curfew, and ordered internet service providers to censor content deemed provocative. Facebook was briefly blocked on 28 May. Despite these measures, Thais found inventive ways to resist. University students adopted the three-finger salute from The Hunger Games as a symbol of opposition -- liberty, equality, brotherhood -- until the military announced it would arrest anyone who displayed the gesture. Protesters then turned to sandwiches, handing them out in public while shouting "Sandwiches for democracy!" A student eating a sandwich in front of Siam Paragon was detained. Reading George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in public was criminalized. A fried squid vendor was arrested for wearing a red shirt. A man holding a sign that read "Holding papers is not a crime" was seized by soldiers. The absurdity of each new arrest only deepened the symbolism the junta was trying to suppress.

The NCPO governed Thailand for five years. It issued an interim constitution granting itself amnesty, established a military-dominated national legislature, and installed Prayut as prime minister. A new constitution, approved by referendum in August 2016 under conditions that criminalized public debate about its merits, ensured the military would retain influence regardless of future election outcomes. The upper house would include seats reserved for the heads of the army, navy, air force, and police. Elections were repeatedly postponed -- Prayut initially said they would not occur for at least fifteen months, and in practice they did not take place until March 2019. The coup's reverberations continued well beyond the junta's formal tenure. In 2020 and 2021, a new generation of Thai protesters took to the streets, this time demanding not just democratic governance but reform of the monarchy itself -- a taboo that previous movements had never dared to breach.

From the air, Bangkok sprawls across the Chao Phraya River delta in a vast grid of concrete and green, its gilded temple spires catching the light between towers of glass. The city has been the stage for every Thai coup since 1932. The Democracy Monument, erected to celebrate the end of absolute monarchy, has served as a rallying point for protesters on all sides of the political spectrum. The Victory Monument, Ratchaprasong intersection, Thammasat University -- these are not just landmarks but recurring coordinates of political upheaval. In February 2021, three former government ministers were found guilty of insurrection for their roles in the protests that preceded the coup, a reminder that in Thailand, the settling of political accounts can take years. The cycle that began in 1932 has yet to find its resolution.