The politics of Thailand currently take place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches.
Thailand has been ruled by kings since the thirteenth century. In 1932, the country officially became a constitutional monarchy, though in practice, the government was dominated by the military and the elite bureaucracy. The country's current constitution was promulgated in 2007.
The King of Thailand has little direct power under the constitution but is a symbol of national identity and unity. King Bhumibol — who has been on the throne since 1946 — commands enormous popular respect and moral authority, which he has used on occasion to resolve political crises that have threatened national stability.
On 23 December 2007, a general election was held following a recent military coup by the Council for National Security on 19 September 2006. The People's Power Party, led by Samak Sundaravej, won the majority of seats in the parliament. A civilian coalition government was formed on 28 January 2008 with five other minor parties leaving the Democrats, led by Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, as the only opposition party.
Executive branch
The king has little direct power under the constitution but is a symbol of national identity and unity. The present monarch has a great deal of popular respect and moral authority, which has been used to resolve political crises.
The head of government is the Prime Minister. Under the constitution, the Prime Minister must be a Member of Parliament. Cabinet members do not have to be Members of Parliament. The legislature could hold a vote of no-confidence against the Premier and members of his Cabinet if it had sufficient votes.
[edit] Legislative branch
Under the new 2007 Constitution, the bicameral Thai legislature is called the National Assembly or informally, the Parliament (Thai: รัฐสภา, Rathasapha). It consists of a House of Representatives (สภาผู้แทนราษฎร, sapha phuthaen ratsadon) of 480 seats and a Senate (วุฒิสภา, wuthisapha) of 150 seats.
The House of Representatives is made up of 400 members from constituency elections and 80 members from "proportional representation", as termed in the Constitution. However, the correct term for Thailand's "proportional representation" is actually parallel voting or Mixed Member Majoritarian (MMM), where the 80 seats are divided, to different political parties, according to the proportion of the "proportional representation" votes, each party receives, in the 8 election districts (10 seats per district).
The Senate is made up of 76 elected members (one for each province) and the rest (74) are selected from nominated candidates, from the academic sector, the public sector, the private sector, the professional sector and other sectors, by the Senates Selection Committee.
Members of House of Representatives serve four-year terms, while Senators serve six-year terms.
[edit] Political parties and elections
Political activities were banned by the junta after the coup on 19 September 2006. However, this is no longer the case after the formation of a civilian government.
The junta originally promised that democratic elections would occur within 12 months. However, the timeframe for elections was extended to 17 months. A general election was finally held on 23 December 2007. See results below:
For other political parties see List of political parties in Thailand. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Thailand.
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