The emergence of Indonesian military elites as new actors in democracy after the end of New Order regime is an interesting phenomenon. Unlike what has happened in Southeast Asia countries, some countries that have been led by military regime able to transform into democratic state like Indonesia. Prior to Suharto stepped down from office in 1998, a number of military elites in Indonesia are known to have encouraged the democratization process through a number of political reform ideas. When Sudharmono Chaired of Golkar in 1983, for instance, he had required military personnel to retire early from the army if they wanted to occupy positions in Golkar or other civilian positions. An idea that was very advanced back in the day.

We don't find the same issue in Thailand and Myanmar, which are until now still lives under a military regime and remains to overthrow the civilian government as a result of the general election. Why can the Indonesian military accept and encourage the idea of ​​democracy, while their colleagues in Thailand and Myanmar cannot accept the same values? Do the doctrines in the majority religion have an influence on the democratization process of a country?

This research intends to conduct a comparative study on relation between military elites and religious groups in Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar related to the ideas of democracy and civilian supremacy. The research is conducted using the library research method on various literatures and news covered on those countries.

It is worth to note that this research is important due to the fact that military and religion still play a significant role in social and political life in Southeast Asia. In the age of post pandemic, democratic countries are considered able to handle the pandemic better than less democratic countries. Therefore, promoting democratic ideas not only have implications for political life, but also affect the future of the Southeast Asian region in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.

Keywords: military, religious group, democracy, pandemic Covid-19