>>64023405
Compared to the rest of their corner, they were never colonized nor fucked over by European powers. After decolonization they never had to rebuild their government or army from scratch because they never got colonized in the first place. Plus during the Cold War, Thailand didn't have a neutered army like Japan did while also inhabiting a highly strategic position when Domino Theory was all the rage at the Pentagon. They were given the training and the means to ensure Communism couldn't come into Thailand. The military was built to be a powerful force in the region to ensure the worst couldn't come to pass, and now they get to spend that military budget fighting something that isn't an insurgency.