Who’s who in the Thai military? Why and how has the military evolved to enjoy the enormous power it continues to wield? Why have coups occurred? What is the future of the Thai military? Praetorian Kingdom: A History of Military Ascendancy in Thailand, published in August 2024 by ISEAS Publishing, Singapore, addresses these and other related questions. The book is a chronology of the armed forces in Thailand, from its founding as a permanent standing army in 1852 and service to the absolute monarchy, its martial dominance roughly from 1932 until 1973, reasserted power after 1976 until 1988/1992, backseat role in the 1992-2006 guided democracy, and reinvigorated sway since 2006. By 2024, Thailand had experienced 14 successful, overt military coups (depending on the definition of coup), and, despite currently being headed by a civilian Prime Minister, continues to possess a military which could stage a coup at any time. This book’s relevance is that it is one of the first works in English to focus attention on the history of a highly relevant Thai political actor responsible for changing multiple governments — the military. Readers of this book and those attending this talk will learn how the military evolved to be so powerful and its relations with civilian governments as well as direct ties with other governments (such as the United States) across time. The author will bring copies of the book which will be sold at discount prices.