 Manoon graduated from the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy in Class 7, along with classmates Sanan Kachornprasart, Chamlong Srimuang, and Pallop Pinmanee.Important military factions in the early-1980s included the Young Turks; the fifth class of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy led by Suchinda Kraprayoon; the "Democratic Soldiers", mostly staff officers in counter-insurgency planning; and the military leadership, such as Generals Arthit Kamlang-ek and Pichit Kullavanij, both with close ties to the palace, and Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a loyalist to Prime Minister General Prem Tinsulanonda.The Young Turks were increasingly frustrated by the military leadership, which they claim had "allowed themselves to be subservient to the rotten political system just to live happily with benefits handed to them by (corrupt) politicians."