Democracy has had a rotten few years in Asia. Myanmar’s army forced out Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s civilian leader, in a coup. A drug-running theocracy took control of Afghanistan. China and Hong Kong have become ever-more authoritarian. Freedoms across the region have been in retreat since 2015 and are close to their lowest-recorded level on the Democracy Index, a yearly ranking by eiu, our sister company. But signs of hope are emerging. Asia and Australasia, grouped together in the index, arrested a years-long democratic decline in 2022. And Thailand, run by a former general who seized power from an elected government in 2014, was the most improved democracy in the ranking. Why?

EIU assesses countries in five categories of democratic health and then classifies governments on a ten-point scale, ranging from full democracy to autocracy. Asia and Australasia are home to seven “authoritarian regimes”, including Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea—the three lowest-ranked of the 167 countries and territories in the index. The region also contains five “full democracies”, seven “hybrid regimes”—places that maintain some freedoms but are often plagued by leaders who flout democratic norms—and nine “flawed democracies”, including Thailand.

Thailand’s rise, from 72nd in the index in 2021 to 55th last year, was brought about partly by a healthier political opposition. Rivals to the ruling party earned important wins in local elections and by-elections in 2022.