Government and society

Constitutional framework

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with the monarch as the head of state. While almost every government since 1932 has accepted constitutional authority, the country has had 17 constitutions, the most recent drafted in 2007. All of these documents have provided for a National Assembly with a prime minister as head of government. Power is exercised by the bicameral National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, and the courts in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and laws passed by the National Assembly. The constitution of 2007 (largely based on that of 1997) provides for the direct election of members of the lower house of the Assembly, the House of Representatives, to four-year terms, five-sixths from single-member districts and the remainder based on proportional representation from the political parties. It also requires the prime minister to be a member of the House of Representatives. Members of the upper house, the Senate, are directly elected to six-year terms. Legislation originates in the House of Representatives, but it can be modified or rejected by the Senate.

In May 2014, following a military coup, the 2007 constitution was suspended (except provisions pertaining to the monarchy), and a council of military leaders took power. That council appointed a 200-member single-chamber interim legislature in late July. The leader of the council was named interim prime minister in late August.

The execution of laws is carried out by the civil service, whose members are known as kharatchakan, “servants of the king.” The bureaucracy, particularly the Ministry of Interior, has always enjoyed a significant degree of autonomy in administering the country. The number of elective offices and senior civil-service positions occupied by women is small, though increasing slowly.

Local government

For most people in Thailand, government is experienced primarily through centrally appointed officials who hold posts in local administration, the main units of which are provinces (changwat) and districts (amphur). In the 1990s three new provinces were carved out of the existing ones, resulting in a total of 76.

A marked devolution of power has taken place since the 1980s. By far the most significant of the local governing bodies are those in the major cities, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya. Locally elected provincial assemblies have little power, but they serve as incubators for local politicians who may later be elected to the National Assembly. In 1997, communes (tambon), units consisting of several villages, were given increased powers and the authorization to elect members of tambon administrative organizations. With new administrative and financial authority, these bodies have become the most important local democratic units in Thailand. Headmen of villages (muban) are also elected, but their authority is circumscribed by centrally appointed district officers and the tambon administrative organizations.

Justice

Thailand had a sophisticated legal system before Western influences led it to adopt a system of jurisprudence based on European models. The first law codes—dating from as early as the 15th century—were based on the Indian code of Manu, which arrived by way of the Mon and the Khmer. As part of the modernizing reforms of the late 19th century, a new legal system was developed, based primarily on the French (Napoleonic) model. The modernizing government of King Chulalongkorn also received legal advice from British advisers. A significant aspect of the legal reforms of the late 19th century was the creation of an independent judiciary. This ideal proved difficult to realize, however, because of interference by politicians and the continuing presence of corruption within the system. As part of a series of judicial reforms initiated at the end of the 20th century, the Supreme Court, with justices appointed by the monarch, was declared the final court of appeal for both civil and criminal cases; a system of intermediary appeals courts was established to handle cases from courts of first instance scattered throughout the country.

Political process

Prior to the 1980s the political process in Thailand was usually controlled by elites whose power was derived from the military. However, the idea of parliamentary government, first enshrined in the constitutions of the 1930s, never totally disappeared. Thailand has had universal suffrage since 1932, and the minimum voting age is 18. Although no laws have prevented women from involvement in politics, few women have stood for election to the legislature.

Elected parliaments began to gain influence over the political process in the 1980s, and since 1992 governmental power has been exercised through an elected National Assembly, except for a 15-month period in 2006–07, when the military took control.

The role the military has played in the Thai political process reflects an often enunciated principle by leaders of the armed forces that only a well-disciplined military can preserve public order and protect the monarchy. This principle has been challenged both inside and outside of the legislature by those who see laws developed and passed by an elected National Assembly as the basis for a diverse yet orderly society. Like military politicians, however, elected officials often have used their power to advance their own private interests rather than those of the society as a whole.

Major political parties since the 1990s have included the New Aspiration Party, Democrat Party, National Development Party, Thai Rak Thai (“Thais Love Thais”), Thai Nation, Social Action Party, and Thai Citizens’ Party. Following a parliamentary election, the parties with the most legislative seats typically form a coalition government. In 2007 Thai Rak Thai, the party of the ousted prime minister, was dissolved, and a new party, People Power Party, was formed; it was widely viewed as the reincarnation of Thai Rak Thai.