› An overview of Thailand’s political development
› Introduction
› Thailand’s political system was ruled by both a paternalistic(พ่อปกครองลูก) and absolute monarchy (สมบูรณาญาสิทธิราชย์) for centuries
› It was not until 1932, Thailand transformed to a constitutional monarchy (ราชาธิปไตยภายใต้รัฐธรรมนูญ) as the change to democracy.
› However, during 1932, Thailand was still involved with series of military coups limited the power of the king in 1932.
› Read more: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/World-Leaders-2003/Thailand-POLITICAL-BACKGROUND.html#ixzz3ACfpT8kE
› Siam became a constitutional monarchy and was renamed Thailand in 1939 to reflect a movement toward modernization.
› The country’s democratic administration has had kings as heads of state.
› The kings have been able to exercise some powers through:
the National Assembly;
the Council of Ministers;
the Courts
in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
› In Theory
› In 1932, the political reforms ended the absolute monarchy.
› The structure of Thailand’s political administration then was divided into three levels:
central government;
provincial government;
local government
› In Practice
› The central government continued to play an important role in national administrative system.
› There were limited people that were able to participate and involve in political system: the elite, bureaucrats, those who were interested in politics and students of political science.
› Most people paid little attention to politics and did not participate in politics because they recognised that politics matter was only for bureaucrats and that they should not be involved.
› Adherence of Centralisation
› Thailand had to pay attention to centralisation because during 1892, the Thai government had to strengthen central government as to control the country and withstand pressures of colonialism.
› Consequence of
Focusing on Centralisation
Good Points
› National Unity (ความเป็นเอกภาพของชาติ)
› Uniformity (ความเป็นแบบแผนอันเดียวกัน)
› Equality (ความเสมอภาคภายในชาติ)
› Prosperity (ความมั่งคั่งของชาติ)
Weak Points
› Delay of work due to a hierarchical system
› Difficulty to control effectiveness of work
› Ineffectiveness of public services that serve people
› Lack of development at provincial and local level
› Lack of people’s participation in politics
› At Present Time
› During 1997, the Royal Thai government promulgated the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2540.
› The aims of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2540 was:
› to promote the participation of Thai citizens at both local and national levels
› to emphasis on the decentralisation of power from central government to the local government.
› Obstacles
› Thailand’s democratic system is still in a state of development and it takes time for Thai populations to realize how important democracy is.
› Due to the political culture of Thailand‘s political system since the past, Thai people still lack of understand deeply about democratic system and decentralisation.
› There is a reflect in the lack of political participation by the people.
› Thailand after 1932
› Even though Thailand became a democracy in 1932, the democratic reforms were completely unsuccessful.
› After this date, the political system was unstable and subject to military intervention and coup d'états. As a result, Thailand was described as a Demi–Democracy.
Dhiravegin, Demi Democracy: The Evolution of the Thai Political System, p. xii.
› Reason to be considered
› The revolution in 1932 was carried out in a short period of time and did not lead to deeper systemic change. (The power was still in hand of some people but not a whole)
› There was the role of the military leadership. The Thai military leadership has intervened many times in the Thai political system.
› There was never been genuinely democracy applied into the national administrative system since the time of the political transformation in 1932.
› Thailand post 2006
› Event hough the government continued to pursue good governance practices, this would be only an ideal because the national administrative system continued to be ineffective in the face of difficulties and obstacles.