After a bloodless coup in 1932 a constitutional monarchy was established under King Rama VII (SBS 2004). Under the new Constitution, the King became the
‘upholder of religion’ and was responsible for protecting all religions practiced by Thai peoples (Ishii 1994, 456). Siam then became Thailand in 1939 (CIA 2007; RTET 2008). In World War II Thailand gave diplomatic and military support to the Japanese (SBS 2004) but Malay Muslim leaders in the southern provinces sup- ported British efforts in Malaya (Harish 2006). Since the late 1950s separatist Malay Muslims have rebelled in the southern prov- inces while the Communist Party of Thailand conducted an insurgency from the middle 19605 until the 1980s. During and after the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia Thailand also became a major destination for Cambodian refugees. Thai governments adopted renewed constitutions in 1978, 1991 and 1997 (SBS 2004). The most recent coup occuned in 2006. In 2007 a new draft constitution was created (Government of Thailand 2007) and Thais elected a new government (USDS 2007). Almost 95% of Thais are Buddhist and practice Buddhism as an essential aspect of their culture (Statistics Thailand 2008a).