Until now, Thailand has managed to sustain an image as a relatively stable, law-abiding country. This is despite the fact that it has adopted 17 constitutions and suffered umpteen coups in its 76-year history as a constitutional monarchy. But who is counting? That is partly because there has often been an almost ritualistic element to Thai military interventions in which men in neatly pressed uniforms ushered in one set of civilians and waved out another without a whole lot of bloodshed. I was in Thailand for the coup of 1985 (was there only one that year?) and failed to notice it.
迄今为止，泰国设法维持了一个相对稳定、守法国家的形象。尽管在其76年的君主立宪制历史中，它已颁布了17部宪法，经历过无数次政变。但有谁在乎？在一定程度上，这是由于泰国军队的介入常常带有一种近乎仪式主义的元素——身着熨烫整齐制服的士兵迎来一班文官，并送走另一班人，没经过什么流血冲突。1985年政变时（那一年只有一次政变吧？），我就在泰国，却未能注意到此事。