For most of the 1980s, Thailand was ruled by Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda, a democratically inclined[citation needed] strongman who restored parliamentary politics.

For the first time the urban middle class, led by the students, had challenged the ruling junta, and had gained the apparent blessing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej for a transition to democracy.

Some newspapers the following day, including the Bangkok Post, published an altered version of a photo of the event, which suggested the protestors had committed lèse majesté.

Rightist and ultra-conservative icons such as Samak Sundaravej blasted the protestors, instigating violent means to suppress them, culminating in the 6 October 1976 massacre.

The army installed Thanin Kraivichien, an ultra-conservative former judge, as prime minister, and carried out a sweeping purge of the universities, the media and the civil service.

Thousands of students, intellectuals and other leftists fled Bangkok and took refuge with the Communist Party's insurgent forces in the north and north-east, operating from safe bases in Laos.

There was another flood of refugees, and both Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge forces periodically crossed into Thai territory, sparking clashes along the borders.

A 1979 visit to Beijing earned Deng Xiaoping's agreement to end support for Thailand's communist movement; in return, the Thai authorities agreed to give safe haven to the Khmer Rouge forces fleeing west following the invasion of Cambodia.

In April 1981 a clique of junior army officers popularly known as the "Young Turks" staged a coup attempt, taking control of Bangkok.

With King Bhumibol's support for Prem made clear, loyalist units under the palace favourite General Arthit Kamlang-ek managed to recapture the capital in an almost bloodless counterattack.

In December 1982, the Thai army Commander in Chief accepted flag of the Communist Party of Thailand at a widely publicized ceremony held in Banbak.

While Thailand did not grow as fast as the "Four Asian Tigers," (namely Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore) it achieved sustained growth, reaching an estimated $7100 GDP per capita (PPP) by 1990, approximately double its 1980 average.

[5] Prem held office for eight years, surviving another coup in 1985 and two more general elections in 1983 and 1986, and remained personally popular, but the revival of democratic politics led to a demand for a more adventurous leader.

By allowing one faction of the military to get rich on government contracts, Chatichai provoked a rival faction, led by Generals Sunthorn Kongsompong, Suchinda Kraprayoon, and other generals of Class 5 of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy to stage the 1991 Thai coup d'état in February 1991, charging Chatichai's government as a corrupt regime or 'Buffet Cabinet'.

The winning coalition appointed coup leader Suchinda Kraprayoon to become Prime Minister, in effect breaking a promise he had made earlier to King Bhumibol and confirming the widespread suspicion that the new government was going to be a military regime in disguise.

Suchinda brought military units personally loyal to him into the city and tried to suppress the demonstrations by force, leading to a massacre and riots in the heart of the capital, Bangkok, in which hundreds died.

Amidst the fear of civil war, King Bhumibol intervened: he summoned Suchinda and Chamlong to a televised audience, and urged them to follow the peaceful solution.

King Bhumibol re-appointed royalist Anand as interim prime minister until elections could be held in September 1992, which brought the Democrat Party under Chuan Leekpai to power, mainly representing the voters of Bangkok and the south.

Chuan was a competent administrator who held power until 1995, when he was defeated at elections by a coalition of conservative and provincial parties led by Banharn Silpa-Archa.

Tainted by corruption charges from the very beginning, Banharn's government was forced to call early elections in 1996, in which General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's New Aspiration Party managed to gain a narrow victory.

[6] The 1997 Constitution created a bicameral legislature consisting of a 500-seat House of Representatives (สภาผู้แทนราษฎร, sapha phu thaen ratsadon) and a 200-seat Senate (วุฒิสภา, wutthisapha).

During the 2001 election Chuan's agreement with the IMF and use of injection funds to boost the economy were a cause for great debate, whilst Thaksin's policies appealed to the mass electorate.

In January 2001 he had a sweeping victory at the polls, winning a larger popular mandate (40%) than any Thai prime minister has ever had in a freely elected National Assembly.