Knights of the Realm: Thailand's Military and Police, Then and Now Represent the first systematic account of the political history of Thailand's security sector and the main actors involved. The military and police find their legitimacy through law, a safeguarding of monarchy, or a more ambiguous protection of national security: Nation, Religion, Monarchy, People. Thailand is a country with over 30 coups and coup attempts since the 1932 revolution which ended the absolute monarchy. As the last direct military putsch occurred as recently as in 2006, security sector involvement in politics is clearly not a thing of the past. Ambiguous laws and spiraling budgets continue to give the security services enormous influence. Ultimately, political machinations by the armed forces and police cannot afford to be ignored if one really wants to understand Thai politics.