The colonel’s family flatly denied that he had cheated Sergeant Major Jakrapanth. But the Thai military hierarchy remains a system in which senior officers often take advantage of the lower ranks and conscripts are known to act as their servants.

“It says a lot about the Thai military that the sergeant major would be entangled in land deals with his commanding officer’s relatives,” said Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based analyst who writes for the Jane’s Group of defense publications. “This is not how truly professional militaries operate.”

Senior officers operate with impunity, he said, which can breed resentment in the lower ranks.

“In Thai society it is not uncommon that those with rank and privilege treat their subordinates dismissively or unfairly,” he said. “When in the military, the subordinate in question has access to weaponry. Things can go badly wrong.”

The military has staged 18 coups since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932; the most recent one, in 2014, installed the current prime minister, the former general Prayuth Chan-ocha. In 2017, the military won voters’ approval of a constitution that gives it the dominant role in today’s quasi-democratic government.