AIF2002 – Politics and

Government in Southeast
Asia
Lecture 9 - Thailand

Lecturer: Dr. Chong Wu Ling

 Chronology of Politics in Thailand
1250 – Legendary Sukhotai empire.
1351 – Ayudhya empire.
1767 – Thonburi/Bangkok empire.
1855 – Bowring Treaty with Britain.
1932 – Overthrow of absolute monarchy by the military leaders.
1939 – Siam renamed Thailand during the government of Phibun
Songkhram.
1946 – Accession of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Raja Bhumibol
Adulyadej bertakhta).
1932-1973 – Thailand was led by military-dominated
governments.
1973 – Student-led uprising.
1976 – Bloody coup on 6 October. Installed right wing civilian
government led by Thanin Kravichien.
Chronology of Politics in Thailand
(Cont.)
1991 – Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan ousted in
coup. Respected civilian, Anand Panyarachun, installed
as prime minister.
1992 – Attempts by military leader Suchinda Kraprayoon
to become prime minister opposed by mass protests.
Military crackdown led to Black May.
1997 – New pro-democracy constitution passed.
2000 - First senate elections.
2001 – Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party became the big winner
in general elections. Businessman-turned-politician cum
leader of TRT Thaksin Shinawatra became the prime
minisiter.
Chronology of Politics in Thailand
(Cont.)
2006 – Thaksin ousted in a military coup. The 1997
Contstitution was abolished.
2007 – General elections held on 23 December.
2008 – Formation of governments of Samak Sundaravej
and Somchai Wongsawat. Seizure by the People’s Alliance
for Democracy (PAD) of Bangkok’s two airports. Abhisit
Vejjajiva became the prime minister in December.
2010 – Violent clashes between pro-Thaksin “Red Shirt”
supporters and anti-Thaksin “Yellow Shirt” activists.
2011 – Thaksin’s younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra,
became the prime minister following the general elections.
Chronology of Politics in Thailand
(Cont.)
7 May 2014 – Prime Minisiter Yingluck Shinawatra was forced
to step down after a court found her guilty of abusing her
power when she transferred a senior civil servant to another
position shortly after taking office in 2011. Deputy prime
minister and Minister of Commerce Niwatthamrong
Boonsongpaisan replaced Yingluck as caretaker prime minister
(perdana menteri sementara).
22 May 2014 – The military led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha
launched a coup against the caretaker government and
established a junta called the National Council for Peace and
Order (NCPO) to govern the country. (junta - a council or
committee for political or governmental purposes.) The NCPO
also established a military dominated National Assembly
(parliament).
Chronology of Politics in Thailand
(Cont.)
21 August 2014 - General Prayut Chan-o-cha was
chosen by the National Assembly as the new prime
minister.
7 August 2016 - A majority of Thai voters supported a
draft constitution written by an army-appointed
committee in a referendum (referendum - suatu proses
pengundian untuk mengambil sebuah keputusan).
13 October 2016 - King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed
away.
1 December 2016 - The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s
son Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne.
Chronology of Politics in Thailand
(Cont.)
24 March 2019 - General election was held. The former ruling
Pheu Thai party won the highest number of parliamentary
seats, followed by the Palang Pracharat Party led by Prime
Minister Prayut (second highest number of parliamentary
seats), and the Future Forward Party (third highest number
of parliamentary seats), an opposition party popular among
young people in Thailand. But the Pheu Thai Party could not
get enough support from other parties to form government.
Hence, it became an opposition party.
5 June 2019 - The parliament voted to make General Prayut
prime minister.
21 February 2020 - The Constitutional Court dissolved the
Future Forward Party.
Chronology of Politics in Thailand
(Cont.)
8 March 2020 - A new party known as the Move
Forward Party was founded to replace the dissolved
Future Forward Party.
July 2020-present - Thailand saw the largest street
demonstration since the 2014 coup. They demanded
dissolution of the parliament, ending intimidation of
the people, drafting a new constitution, and monarchy
reform.
The late King
Bhumibol
Adulyadej
 King
Vajiralongkorn
 Thaksin
Shinawatra
 Abhisit
Vejjajiva
 Yingluck
Shinawatra
Prayut Chan-o-cha
Thailand is a unitary state with a constitutional
monarchy (monarki berperlembagaan).
 Factors that Shaped Politics and System
of Government in Thailand
The monarchy.
Culture and tradition – Buddhist kingship (sistem
beraja Buddha). Thais respect and revere their kings.
The rise of Western-educated commoner (orang
biasa) elites – played an important role in the
overthrow of absolute monarchy in 1932.
The military.
 Head of State
Post-1932 Thai government is a constitutional
monarchy with a parliamentary system (sistem raja
berperlembagaan dengan sistem berparliemen).
The Thai King - Head of State
The Thai King must be a Buddhist.
 Powers of the King
Opens and closes parliament.
Approves all legislation.
Issues Emergency Decrees.
Appoints all minister together with military and
civilian officials as the head of department level.
Appoints senior judges.
Exercises the power of clemency (pengampunan).
 Lèse Majesté Law
The King is accorded a constitutional position of
“revered worship” and cannot be exposed to any sort of
accusation.
“Lèse majesté ” refers to the insulting of a monarch
(penghinaan terhadap raja).
Article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code (Lèse Majesté
Law) says anyone who “defames, insults or threatens
the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent”
will be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
Until now, several people including foreigners have
been charged with the Lèse Majesté Law.
 The Role of the Late King Bhumibol
Adulyadej in Thai Politics
Despite the absence of a formal political role, King Bhumibol
Adulyadej intervened publicly in politics on rare occasions.
In the 1973 student uprising, with words alone, the King ended
bloodshed and brought about the resignation of government
leaders.
In the 1980s, the King supported the government of Prime
Minister Prem Tinsulanond during two military attempts to
overthrow the government.
During the May 1992 crisis, the King admonished
(mengarahkan) the nation’s leaders to settle the conflict
peacefully, and he demanded the resignation of Suchinda and
approved the return of Anand Panyarachun to be interim leader
(pemimpin sementara) until elections could take place.
 The Role of the Late King Bhumibol
Adulyadej in Thai Politics (Cont.)
In 2006, the King asked Thaksin Shinawatra to step
down as prime minister. Thaksin formally resigned but
retained powers as a caretaker prime minister (perdana
menteri sementara). Six months later, Thaksin was
ousted in a military coup. The coup was viewed with
approval by the King’s most trusted privy councillor
(advisor) (penasihat), Prem Tinsulanond.
 Executive Branch
The executive branch is made up of
 The king as the head of state.
 The prime minister as the head of government.
 The cabinet.
 Legislative Branch
The current structure of the legislative branch is based on
the 2017 Constitution.
Bicameral parliament.
The House of Representatives (lower house) has 500
members. 350 of them are elected under a first-past-the-post
(FPTP) system while the other 150 are elected through a party
list proportional representation system (sistem perwakilan
berkadar senarai parti). (See “Explainer: New rules for the
House of Representatives”
[https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1605898/expl
ainer-new-rules-for-the-house-of-representatives].)
The Senate (upper house) is a non-partisan legislative
chamber comprising 250 members appointed by the military.
Term of office: six years.
 Judicial Branch
The judicial branch is made up of the Court of Justice, the Administrative Court,
military courts, and the Constitutional Court
The Court of Justice (Mahkamah Keadilan) has three levels:
 Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung)
 Court of Appeal
 Court of First Instance (Mahkamah Pengadilan Awal) – minor civil and criminal
cases

Administrative Court (Mahkamah Pentadbiran) – disputes (pertikaian) between

government departments and individuals, and between different government
departments.

Military courts (Mahkamah tentera)

Constitution Court (Mahkamah Perlembagaan)

Appointments are by the King on the advice of a Judicial Commission

(Suruhanjaya Kehakiman).
 Regional Governments
Thailand is made up of 77 provinces including the
capital Bangkok.
Each province is administered by a governor
appointed by the central government.
But the governor of Bangkok is elected by voters for a
four-year term.
 Constitutions
Thailand suffers from endless constitutional change
and claim of constitutional illegitimacy.
Almost all of the major incidents in modern Thai
political history involved some dimension of
constitutional crisis.
Since 1932 Thailand has been governed under 20
constitutions.
The 1997 Constitution is perceived to be the most
legitimate, inclusive and potentially suitable
democratic constitution.
 The 1997 Constitution
Also known as the 1997 People’s Constitution.
It was drafted by a “People’s Committee” comprised experts,
academics and members of civil society. It also included input
from the public.
The Senate, previously appointed, is now elected by the people.
Senators were prohibited from being members of a political party.
Members of Parliament must resign in order to become cabinet
members.
Parliamentarians who changed party membership after the
general elections would be sanctioned (dihukum).
Introduced the party list proportional representation system
(sistem perwakilan berkadar senarai parti). 100 (20%) MPs would
be elected based on the party list proportional representation
system while another 400 (80%) MPs would be elected based on
the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.
 The 1997 Constitution (Cont.)
Favoured larger parties because most MPs were
elected based on the FPTP system.
Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party benefitted from
the 1997 Constitution.
However, the 1997 Constitution was abolished after
Thaksin was ousted in the 2006 military coup.
It was replaced by the 2007 Constitution.
 The 2007 Constitution
The 2007 Constitution was drafted by the Council for
National Security (CNS) (Majlis Keselamatan Negara).
CNS was the military junta that governed Thailand
after the 2006 coup.
The Constitution returned Thailand to a half-
appointed Senate, strengthened bureaucratic
commissions and empowered the judiciary over
elected officials.
The Constitution was repealed after Yingluck was
removed from power in 2014.
 The 2017 Constitution
The draft of the 2017 Constitution was supported by
voters in the 2016 referendum.
The king officially endorsed (mengesahkan) the
constitution in April 2017.
Under the new constitution, all senators (members of
the Senate) would be appointed by the National
Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
The Senate would also have veto power (kuasa
pembatalan) over the House of Representatives on
amending the constitution (pindaan perlembagaan).
The parliament could select a prime minister who is
not a member of parliament or even a politician.
 Military
Since the overthrow of the absolute monarchy in 1932, the
military has played the dominant role in Thai politics.
Most cabinets since 1932 are military-dominated
governments.
The reasons for military dominance:
 The weakness of civilian governments.
 The military is the most highly organised institution in the
country.

At present, Thailand has over 300,000 military personnels.

Highly politicised and royalist.
Staged a number of coups against the governments.
 Major Political Parties
The Democrat Party:
 The longest-surviving party in Thailand.
 Its base is in urban Bangkok and southern Thailand.
 Enjoys strong relations with royal institutions.
 But have never enjoyed a parliamentary majority.
 Major Political Parties (Cont.)
The Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party:
 Founded and led by Thaksin Shinawatra.
 Appealed to populism.
 Its base was in northeastern Thailand (especially rural
areas).
 Won most seats in the 2001 and 2005 elections.
 Banned in 2007 for violation of electoral laws.
 Major Political Parties (Cont.)
The People’s Power Party (PPP):
 Founded by former members of the TRT Party.
 Won the December 2007 general election and formed a
new government under Samak Sundaravej.
 The PPP’s policies were continuations of the populist
social welfare policies of the former TRT government.
 Dissolved by the Constitution Court as its vice-
chairperson faced charges of electoral fraud related to
the 2007 general election.
 Major Political Parties (Cont.)
The Pheu Thai Party (PTP):
 Founded by former members of the TRT Party as an
anticipated replacement for the People’s Power Party
(PPP).
 Won the majority of parliamentary seats in the 2011
general election.
 The Party elected Yingluck Shinawatra as the new prime
minister.
 Won again won the highest but less than half of the total
number of parliamentary seats (136 from 500 seats, or
27.2%) in the 2019 general election. The party could not
get enough support from other parties to form
government. Hence, it became an opposition party.
 Major Political Parties (Cont.)
The Future Forward Party and the Move Forward
Party:
 The Future Forward Party was founded by Thanathorn
Juangroongruangkit, a big businessman, and Piyabutr
Saengkanokkul, a legal scholar (ilmuan undang-
undang).
 The party sought to restrain the military’s power in Thai
politics.
 Popular among young people in Thailand.
 Won the third highest number of parliamentary seats in
the 2019 general election.
 But the party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court
on 21 February 2020.
 Major Political Parties (Cont.)
 The Move Forward Party was founded on 8 March 2020
by a group of members of parliament of the dissolved
Future Forward Party.
 The party adopts the political platforms of the Future
Forward Party.