1997 "The People's Constitution"
The increasing desire to develop a democratic system of government resulted in political reform, which opened the door to the drafting of a new constitution. The representatives who drafted the Constitution were elected by the people, so this Constitution is popularly called "The People's Constitution," and it was been in effect from 1997 until 2007.
The 1997 Constitution included many other significant principles. It is the first constitution with provisions for the protection of human dignity and religious freedom. It is also the first constitution to stipulate that there be an independent state organization to allocate frequencies for radio, television, and other telecommunication broadcasting.
In addition, the 1997 Constitution dealt with other matters, such as education, the preservation of local wisdom, and the protection of children and the elderly. This is the first constitution that stipulates that the state must provide at least 12 years of quality, basic education, at no charge and countrywide. It is also the first constitution that gives the right to local communities to preserve local art, culture, and wisdom.
The last important point is that the 1997 Constitution gave importance to the setting up of organizations to inspect and provide checks and balances, such as the Election Commission, the Inspectors of State Affairs of Parliament, the National Human Rights Commission, and the National Counter-Corruption Commission. All these organi-zations help to make the selection of people for political work more transparent.
The 1997 Constitution made some significant changes concerning Parliament, particularly the new party list system. The Constitution stipulates that the House of Representatives must have 500 members, 100 of which were to be from the party lists and 400 from constituency elections. As for the Senate, this is the first time that the Thai people have elected the Senate. The Constitution stipulates that 200 senators must be elected, and the provincial districts must represent the constituencies.
Furthermore, the Constitution also stipulated that voting is a duty, and this change has really helped to develop the Thai democratic system. This Constitution was the basis of the election of the senators in the year 2000 and of the general election in 2001. About 70 percent of the people used their right to vote.
The 1997 Constitution's unexpected, and undesirable, consequence was a strong government under an autocratic prime minister, controlling a quiescent cabinet and a majority-holding political party as never before encountered. The governing political party held absolute control in the Parliament to result in the legislative - executive checks and balances mechanism skewed and thrown off balance. In September 2006 a group of top military officers overthrew the caretaker Thaksin administration in a non-violent coup d’etat, repealed the 1997 constitution, and dissolved both houses of parliament. The coup leaders promulgated an interim constitution and appointed Surayud Chulanont as interim Prime Minister. In a national referendum in August 2007, a majority of Thai voters approved a new constitution drafted by an assembly appointed by the coup leaders.
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