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Further Reading

Government

By the year 2012 Thailand had so far had 28 different prime ministers and 18 constitutions. After seizing administrative power in 1932, Khana Rat declared a temporary constitution, which stipulated that in the parliamentary form of government the King had to be under the constitution, the House of Representatives was the legislative organization, the People?s Committee (or the Cabinet) was the administrative organization, and the law courts were the representatives of judicial power.

Since the declaration of the first constitution, the politics and government of Thailand have continued to develop under the democratic system. In 1997 a new constitution was adopted, which gives equal rights and freedom to all the people. This constitution was replaced by a new one in 2007.

The new leaders of 1932 realized that the goal of popularly-elected government could not be attained immediately, and that considerable experimentation and adaptation would be necessary before a balance could be struck. For this reason, the first constitution was a cautious document that created a bicameral National Assembly with two categories of members,half of whom were elected by popular vote (the Lower House), the other half (the Upper House or Senate) being appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers (now called the cabinet).

Every constitution holds that the Prime Minister is chief of government and head executive. A slight difference between the Thai Prime Minister and those in other countries is that, since the creation of the post of the Prime Minister in 1933, the Thais have often looked to their Prime Minister as a protective figure, possibly due to their tendency to extend family structure into the sphere of government.Thailand's legal system blends principles of traditional Thai and Western laws; Koranic law is applied in the far south, where Muslims constitute the majority of the population. The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeals, and its judges are appointed by the king.

The inauguration of a democratic political system, and the declaration of the first constitution, took place on 10 December 1932. Since then there have been several constitutions, but in general, the constitutions of the Kingdom of Thailand adhere to several principles.

The first concept of the constitution concerns the role of the king. Every version of the constitution stipulates that the king is the leader of the country, the commander- in-chief of the Thai army, and the patron of all religions. He is above politics, holds a position of neutrality in politics, and exercises the people?s democratic power through the state organizations.

The second concept relates to the legislative arm. Despite changes in the form of Parliament from the first constitution to the present 1997 Constitution, the 16th, the Thai legislative institution retains the duty to issue laws, and at the same time to counterbalance the administrative power. It has the right to sign a motion to open parlia- mentary debate against the government?s operation, and to raise queries against the government or an individual Cabinet member.

The third concept involves administrative power. The administrative power resides in the Cabinet, which is led by the prime minister. The party that has the majority votes in an election will set up the government, and the leader of the party will be the prime minister.

The final concept relates to judicial power. King Rama V established the Ministry of Justice, and that was the starting point for Thailand to adopt the Western system of law. The system has been continuously developed on the basis that judicial power must be independent of, and separate from, other powers so that judgment will truly be fair. The legal system, which is responsible for both civil suits and criminal cases, is divided into three levels, namely the Magistrate Court, the Appeal Court, and the Supreme Court.

Thailand's legal system blends principles of traditional Thai and Western laws. Under the constitution, the Constitutional Court is the highest court of appeals, though its jurisdiction is limited to clearly defined constitutional issues. Its members are nominated by a committee of judges, leaders in parliament, and senior independent officials, whose nominees are confirmed by the Senate and appointed by the King. The Courts of Justice have jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases and are organized in three tiers: Courts of First Instance, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of Justice. Administrative courts have jurisdiction over suits between private parties and the government, and cases in which one government entity is suing another.

Currently, there is such a large number of lawsuits that the three levels of the judiciary cannot sufficiently serve the people. As a result, some special courts have been set up in accordance with the types of cases and social conditions, such as a Juvenile Court, a Labor Court, a Local Administration Court, and a Military Court, among others.

In addition, Thailand also gives specific rights to the Muslims in four provinces in the South, specifically Satun, Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat. The Act of Islamic Law Practice was issued in 1946 to be used in civil suits concerning families and inheritance among Thai Muslims because Islam has special features that differ from other religions. Islam has provisions concerning the family which do not relate to the way of life of the rest of Thai society. The agreement to use Islamic law adapts to the real practices of most people because more than 80 percent of the population in these four provinces are Muslim. This law is used when both parties are Muslim. The final judgment in a civil suit concerning a family and inheritance among the Islamic people is given by Dato Yutitham, whose judgment is considered final in such cases.