In fact, Thailand has applied a bicameral system since 1932 with a constitutional
monarchy. Although the king Bhumibol Adulyadej had ensured a degree of political
continuity, there have been 17 military coups (the last in 1991) since 1932. Genuine civilian
government was restored in 1973, but over the following decades, administrations were
always shorted-lived and unstable. The critical change occurred in January 2001, when the
newly formed Thai Rak Thai (Thai loves Thai) –TRT party under the leadership of a former
policeman and telecommunication tycoon, Thaksin Shinawatra, won a resounding victory in
the general election. The fact should be kept in mind is that Thaksin’s government became
the first administration to complete a four-year term. Furthermore, in the 2005 election, the
Thai Rak Thai party won the general election unprecedentedly and could form a single party
government. This new government represents a new era of Thai politics to the extent that the
parliamentary regime is controlled by the dominant political force. This fact can be explained
by looking at table 1. Thai Rak Thai won 377 seats in the lower house which enables it to
govern alone while over the last decades a government coalition had been the case.