The use of the police state apparatus and the change of Thai politics from 1932 to 2019

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to study (1) characteristics of the police state during 1932-2019 (2) the process of implementing the police state in Thailand and (3) impacts and adaptiveness of the police state in Thailand. This study use document analysis as a qualitative research method and in-depth interview of qualified informants. The study examines the police state in Thailand by deductive reasoning, Louis Althusser’s concepts of ideology and ideological state and Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. This study found that (1) the police state was used directly from rulers and indirectly from performing teams in both traditional and electronic means (2) the police state was used legally as well as illegally, both in suppressively and ideologically terms. (3) the police state made impacts and changing of political society and civil society in terms of political thoughts. Additionally development of information technology resulted in confirmation bias effecting to political ideology of the society.