In Thailand, the political system currently operates
within the framework of a constitutional monarchy
in terms of which the prime minister is the head
of government and a hereditary monarch is head
of state. The country has a political history of
long periods of authoritarianism alternating with
periods of “semi-democratic” government. Since
1932, the military has interrupted the constitutional
order more than 18 times, with Thai citizens
witnessing more than 20 changes of government
and 18 written constitutions after the abolition of
absolute monarchy. The most recent coup was in
September 2006, when the elected government
of Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by the
military in the form of the so-called Council for
Democratic Reform (CDR), which argued that it
needed to seize power to unite the nation after
months of political turmoil and to protect the
monarchy.1
The military gave a commitment to
restore democratic government within one year.