The ascension to office of an elected civilian prime minister in 1988 suggested that democracy had finally arrived in Thailand in line with other democratization experiences throughout the world in the late 1980s. Though 1988 represented a watershed moment and even an opening or aperture for the advent of elected civilian rule, arch-royalist military praetorianism stood in the shadows. For this reason, political space was to have its constraints: Thailand's post-1988 democracy was to be a facade—even more limited than the guided democracy of post-1992.

On 4 August 1988, Chatchai Chunhavan took office, becoming the first elected civilian prime minister since 1976—despite being a retired general. But his electoral rise to office was slightly ironic. Had Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat failed in his 1957 coup against Phibun, Phao, Phin and Phin's Soi Rajakru clique, Chatchai might himself have risen to power by putsch-oriented means. Chatchai, as the son of 1948–54 army commander Field Marshal Phin Chunhavan, had as a child studied at the prestigious Dipsirin School (where Krit Sivara and Pramarn also studied) before entering Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy in 1939. With Thailand under Prime Minister Phibun Songkram, Chatchai graduated during World War II and served under his father, Field Marshal Phin Chunhavan, who commanded the Phayap Army (Army of the Northwest). During this period, Chatchai met several future military strongmen, including Sarit Thanarat, Thanom Kittikachorn, Praphas Charusatien and Krit Sivara. Chatchaiaw action in Thailand's invasion of the Shan States of Burma. But after World War II, he studied at Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA. He was military attache in Washington in 1949. But given his father's clout, Chatchai shot up the ranks to become a major-general that year (he was only 31). In fact, his father, Phin, became army commander in 1948, serving until 1954. That said, Phin had led the coup that overthrew Thailand's first democracy in 1947. Chatchai played a small supportive role in that putsch. In the 1951 “silent” or “radio” coup, Phin's Soi Rajakru faction consolidated its power over the country. Meanwhile, Chatchai served in the Korean War (1950–53) as the commander of the 1st Cavalry Battalion.