The 6 October 1976 coup appeared to have brought Thailand's mili¬tary back to dominate the country—as a resurgence to the Thanom/Praphas period. But in fact, given that the weak Supreme Command was leading the junta while the army itself was extremely factionalized, King Bhumipol was able to hold overwhelming sway across the new administration. To some extent, he allowed the military to hold the reins of power.

With his endorsement, the military usurpers, self-styled as the “NARC”, initially agreed that ACM Kamon, in his role as supreme commander of the armed forces, would “head an internal security force” tasked with administering the country for approximately one month through the guidance of a military council chaired by retired admiral Sangad. A reform government, to be led by an arch-royalist civilian, would then assume power, after which a new constitution would be drafted.2 Though Sangad formally led the NARC, the pro-Praphas assistant army commander General Yot Thepsadin na Ayuthaya maneu¬vered to compete for power against him. The NARC was expanded to include more military council members to appease disgruntled army officers who had felt excluded.

Meanwhile, seeking to rapidly put his imprimatur on the new government, King Bhumipol, on 8 October, appointed the obscure, rabidly anti-communist judge Thanin Kraivixien as prime minister, with cabinet formation set for two weeks later. Sangad was quick to support the king's move so as to frustrate the machinations of General Yot. The military's post-Krit faction and the palace seemed to have allied against hard-line military officers.

Bhumipol appeared to be content that a civilian government under his direct control had ascended to power, and he naively assumed it enjoyed the stable backing of the armed forces. According to US ambassador Whitehouse:

Under Thanin, the Martial Law Act, implemented when the coup had been announced, remained in place, bolstered by armed forces sup¬port. But any power that Thanin had over the military, of course, owed only to that which the king had given him.