Constitutions, regimes and power in Thailand

Democratization

Volumn 14, Issue 5, 2007, Pages 928-945

  Hewison, Kevin ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Constitutionalism; Constitutions; Coups; Monarchy; Participation; Political conservatives; Thailand; Thaksin Shinawatra

Indexed keywords

CIVIL SOCIETY; CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM; POLITICAL CONFLICT; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; POLITICAL POWER; SOCIAL CONFLICT;

ASIA; EURASIA; SOUTHEAST ASIA; THAILAND;

EID: 36549079585     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: 1743890X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510340701635738     Document Type: Article

References (114)

1. Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino, 'The Quality of Democracy', Center on Democracy, Development, and The Rule of Law, Stanford Institute on International Studies, No. 20, 21 September 2004, pp. 4-5.
2. Ibid. pp. 8-9.
3. Don DeBats, 'Liberal-Democratic Theory in America', in Norman Winthrop (ed.) Liberal Democratic Theory and Its Critics (London: Croom Helm, 1983), pp. 49-82.
4. Ibid., pp. 57-8.
5. Cited in Herman Belz, 'Changing Conceptions of Constitutionalism in the Era of World War II and the Cold War', The Journal of American History, Vol. 59, No. 3 (1972), pp. 640-69.
6. Andrew MacIntyre, The Power of Institutions. Political Architecture and Governance (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003), pp. 1-2.
7. Surin Maisrikrod, 'Changing Forms of Democracy in Asia? Some Observations on the Thai and Philippine Constitutions', Asian Studies Review, Vol. 23, No. 3 (1999), pp. 355-73, pp. 358-9.
8. Ran Hirschl, 'The Political Origins of the New Constitutionalism', Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies Vol. 11, No. 1 (2004), pp. 71-108, pp. 73-84.
9. At the same time, a strikingly similar case could be drawn for recent constitutional debate in the Philippines. For details, see Surin (note 7)
10. Paul D. Hutchcroft and Joel Rocamora, 'Strong Demands and Weak Institutions: The Origins and Evolution of the Democratic Deficit in the Philippines', Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2003), pp. 259-92
11. Steven Rogers, 'Philippine Politics and the Rule of Law', Journal of Democracy Vol. 15, No. 4 (2004), pp. 111-25
12. and Ben Reid, 'The Philippine Democratic Uprising and the Contradictions of Neoliberalism: EDSA II', Third World Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 5 (2001), pp. 777-93.
13. Parliament of Thailand, 'Constitutions of the Kingdom of Thailand', website of the Parliament of Thailand, available at http://www.parliament.go.th/files/library/b05.htm (accessed 3 December 2006).
14. Ibid.
15. See the special issue, '75 pi lang 2475 kan doenthang phua klap pai thi doem?' 75 Years After 1932: On the Path Back to the Beginning?, Fa Diew Kan [Same Sky] Vol. 5, No. 1 (2007).
16. See Paul M. Handley, The King Never Smiles. A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006). Revealingly, another webpage for Thailand's Parliament lists what it says are 14 other interesting webpages. The first four are all related to the monarchy, including the Chakri dynasty's principle site, while the constitution is listed sixth, available at http://www.parliament.go.th/files/other/eint-l.htm. At the time of accessing the site in mid-December 2006, most of these links were broken.
17. Popular studies note that Thailand has had 16 constitutions and is writing another in 2006-2007. However, according to Kobkua, there have been 27 constitutions in total, including the 16 'provisional or permanent [sic]' versions; see Kobkua Suwannathat-Pian, Kings, Country and Constitutions. Thailand's Political Development, 1932-2000 (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), p. 30. This means that by mid-2007, Thailand had experienced 28 'permanent', provisional, and interim constitutions, with yet another being arranged for promulgation late in 2007.
18. See Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, Pridi by Pridi (Chiangmai: Silkworm Books, 2000), pp. 73-9.
19. Ibid., p. 73.
20. See Baker and Pasuk (note 15), pp. 183-8
21. Nakharin Mektrairat, Kanpattiwat sayam ph.s. 2475 [The Revolution in Siam 1932] (Bangkok: Social Sciences and Humanities Project Foundation, 1992).
22. Also see Thongchai Winichakul, 'Kham mai phon prachathipatai baep lang 14 tula prachatipatai baep sai saat khong aphichon kap ratthaprahan 19 kanyayon 2549' [Failing to Get Beyond Democracy After 14 October [1973]: Aristocratic "Clean-Democracy"],
23. in Thanapol Eawsakul (ed.) Ratthaprahan 19 Kanya: Ratthaprahan puea rabop prachathipatai mi pramakasat song pen pramuk
24. [The 19 September Coup: A Coup for the Democracy with the Monarch as Head of State System] (Bangkok: Fa Dieo Kan, 2007), pp. 30-57.
25. Duncan McCargo, 'Introduction: Understanding Political Reform in Thailand', in Duncan McCargo (ed.), Reforming Thai Politics (Copenhagen: NIAS Publishing, 2002), pp. 1-18, p. 3.
26. See Kevin Hewison, 'Of Regimes, State and Pluralities: Thai Politics Enters the 1990s', in Kevin Hewison, Richard Robison, and Garry Rodan (eds) Southeast Asia in the 1990s: Authoritarianism, Democracy and Capitalism (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1993), pp. 159-89.
27. See for example, Wariya S. Chinwanno and Chaichana Inqavata (eds), US Constitution. Thai Perspectives/ratthamanun saharat... thatsana chak muang thai (Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press, 1990).
28. Likhit Dhiravegin, 'The Relevance of the US Constitution to Thai Politics', in Wariya S. Chinwanno and Chaichana Inqavata (eds), US Constitution. Thai Perspectives/ratthamanun saharat... thatsana chak muang thai (Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press, 1990), pp. 61-8.
29. There are some notable exceptions, including the important works collected in Duncan McCargo's 2002 collection, Reforming Thai Politics (Copenhagen: NIAS Publishing, 2002),
30. including chapters by Michael Connors on 'Framing the "People's Constitution"', pp. 37-56
31. and Kobkua Suwannathat-Pian on 'The Monarchy and Constitutional Change Since 1972', pp. 57-72
32. and their more substantial monographs: Michael K. Connors, Democracy and National Identity in Thailand (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003)
33. and Kobkua (note 14).
34. McCargo (note 18), p. 9.
35. McCargo (note 18)
36. Connors, 'Framing the "People's Constitution"' (note 22).
37. McCargo (note 18), p. 9.
38. See for example, Prawase Wasi, 'An Overview of Political Reform Issues', in Duncan McCargo (ed.) Reforming Thai Politics (Copenhagen: NIAS Publishing, 2002), pp. 21-8
39. Thirayuth Boonmi, 'Good Governance: A Strategy to Restore Thailand', in Duncan McCargo (ed.), Reforming Thai Politics (Copenhagen: NIAS Publishing, 2002), pp. 29-36.
40. Connors (note 22), p. 37.
41. Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, 'Power in Transition: Thailand in the 1990s', in Kevin Hewison (ed.) Political Change in Thailand. Democracy and Participation (London: Routledge, 1997), pp. 21-41.
42. See Hewison (note 19), pp. 159-89
43. Kevin Hewison, 'Political Oppositions and Regime Change in Thailand', in Garry Rodan (ed.), Political Oppositions in Industrialising Asia (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 72-94.
44. The May 1992 Uprising is usually presented as a 'middle-class revolt'. There is no doubt that this group was strongly represented, but as Paul Handley reports, the crowds included many from the working class, including lower level bureaucrats and teachers, and there were strong shows of working class support for the anti-military actions. More significantly, he reports that when the demonstrations turned to riots and there was shooting, the middle class fled, leaving a much tougher crowd of 30,000 protesters in place. Many of these were students and workers. See Paul Handley, 'Rainbow Coalition: Protesters Came From Many Walks of Life', Far Eastern Economic Review, 30 April 1992, p. 11.
45. Handley (note 13), pp. 342-5.
46. Paul Handley, 'Win Some, Lose Some: Suchinda Juggles Cabinet to Preserve Coalition', Far Eastern Economic Review, 4 June 1992, p. 17.
47. See Rodney Tasker, 'Disloyal Opposition', Far Eastern Economic Review 14 April 1994, p. 16
48. Rodney Tasker, 'Anti-Reform Club: Opposition and Senate Defeat Government Bills', Far Eastern Economic Review, 12 May 1994, p. 17.
49. Michael Vatikiotis, 'We the People', Far Eastern Economic Review, 7 September 1995, p. 21
50. Michael Vatikiotis, 'Strong Medicine: Activist Doctor Prescribes Constitutional Change', Far Eastern Economic Review, 26 October 1995, p. 34.
51. Cited in Michael Vatikiotis, 'People's Putsch', Far Eastern Economic Review, 18 September 1997, p. 14.
52. Ibid.
53. On the military's attacks on labour in 1991-1992, see Kevin Hewison and Andrew Brown, 'Labour and Unions in an Industrialising Thailand', Journal of Contemporary Asia Vol. 24, No. 4 (1994), pp. 483-514.
54. For details of labour's role in developing the 1997 constitution, see Andrew Brown and Kevin Hewison, '"Economics is the Deciding Factor": Labour Politics in Thaksin's Thailand', Pacific Affairs Vol. 78, No. 3 (2005), pp. 353-75, pp. 356-8.
55. Michael Vatikiotis, 'Who Needs Democracy?: Some Call For Unelected Prime Minister', Far Eastern Economic Review, 19 September 1996, p. 20.
56. Rodney Tasker, 'Hard Times Roll', Far Eastern Economic Review 7 August 1997, p. 27.
57. Connors (note 22).
58. Vatikiotis, 'Tilting at Windmills', Far Eastern Economic Review, 3 April 1997, p. 14.
59. Tasker (note 38).
60. On the king's views on these political attributes, see Kevin Hewison, 'The Monarchy and Democratisation', in Kevin Hewison (ed.), Political Change in Thailand. Democracy and Participation (London: Routledge, 1997), pp. 58-74.
61. Handley (note 13), pp. 410-14.
62. Vatikiotis (note 34).
63. On the 1997 Constitution and the king, see Handley (note 13), pp. 411-12. For a general discussion of the king's responses to democratization, see Hewison (note 42).
64. Reports in Raengngan porithat, cited in Brown and Hewison, '"Economics is the Deciding Factor"' (note 36), p. 357.
65. Ibid., p. 358.
66. On Thaksin and his time in power see, Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, Thaksin (Chiangmai: Silkworm Books, 2004)
67. Duncan McCargo and Ukrist Pathamanand, The Thaksinization of Thailand (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2005).
68. See Kevin Hewison, 'Crafting Thailand's New Social Contract', The Pacific Review Vol. 17, No. 4 (2004), pp. 503-22.
69. See Pasuk and Baker (note 48),
70. and McCargo and Ukrist (note 48).
71. On the 'war on drugs', see Human Rights Watch, Not Enough Graves: The War on Drugs, HIV/AIDS, and Violations of Human Rights (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004).
72. On human rights, see United States Department of State, 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Thailand, 2005', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 8 March 2006, available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/ rls/hrrpt/2005/61628.htm (accessed 31 January 2007).
73. On the southern separatism and violence, see Duncan McCargo (ed.), Rethinking Thailand's Southern Violence (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2007).
74. The private investment index, which measures economic activity, increased consistently throughout Thaksin's time, rising from 107.7 in 2001 to 173.4 in 2006. See the Bank of Thailand's website, available at http://www.bot.or.th/bothomepage/databank/EconData/EconFinance/ tab71-2.asp, which includes downloadable historical data (accessed 19 March 2007).
75. Nation, 16 September 2005.
76. Pramuan Rujanaseri, Phraratcha amnat [Royal Power] (Bangkok: Published by the author, 2005).
77. Handley (note 13), pp. 424-6.
78. Nation, 26 March 2006.
79. Nation, 27 April 2006.
80. There were no more big street demonstrations. PAD's last rally, a couple of days after the king's pronouncement, was relatively small, and the alliance no longer called for street protests.
81. See Our Correspondent, 'There Wasn't Any Choice', Asia Sentinel, 20 September 2006, available at http://www.asiasentinel.com (accessed 20 September 2006)
82. and Meechai Ruchupan, 'Khwam rapphitchop khong naiyokratchamontri' ['The responsibilities of the prime minister'], 2006, available at http://www.meechaithailand.com (accessed 8 July 2006).
83. Bangkok Post, 15 July 2006.
84. In May 2006, with no solid evidence produced, Sondhi claimed that the so-called Finland Plot brought former communists and Thaksin together in 1999 to plan the overthrow of the monarchy, establish a one-party state and declare a republic. The plot was set out in a series of articles in Sondhi's newspaper, Phujatkan, on 17, 19, 22, 23, and 24 May 2006.
85. See Duncan McCargo, 'Network Monarchy and Legitimacy Crises in Thailand', Pacific Review, Vol. 18, No. 4 (2005), pp. 499-519.
86. Bangkok Post, 16 August 2006.
87. Bangkok Post, 4 July 2006. In Thailand, each day is assigned a colour. The king, born on a Monday, has yellow as his birthday colour.
88. Immediately on taking power, the military declared that neither the king nor his advisers had any role in the coup; see Asian Wall Street Journal, 19 September 2006.
89. The military continued to make this point
90. six months after the coup; see Bangkok Post, 20 March 2007. Such statements are disingenuous. When the king endorsed the coup, easing 'doubts about the legitimacy of the coup' (see Nation, 21 September 2006), he appointed junta leader Sonthi as head of the 'Council for the Administrative Reform of Democracy, with the King as Head of State'.
91. It was reported in the Bangkok Post, 21 September 2006, that the 'coup plot was known within a tight circle of people, among them Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, president of the Privy Council, and his close aides at Ban Sisao Theves, Air Force Commander-in-Chief ACM Chalit Pukkasuk and Lt-Gen Anupong Paochinda, commander of the immediately when the coup took place
92. see Nation, 20 September 2006. Soon after the coup, the junta changed its English name, but not its Thai name, 'to prevent misunderstanding in the global community that the putsch had His Majesty the King's blessing'. The 'Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy' dropped 'under Constitutional Monarchy' from its name, arguing that the 'original name was a literal translation from the Thai name which was misleading and had caused confusion. It was falsely suggestive of the role of the King in the intervention [sic]'; quoted in Bangkok Post, 27 September 2006.
93. Nation, 23 September 2006.
94. McCargo (note 62).
95. See http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/speeches/index.en.html for the king's various speeches reproduced in Thai, accessed 20 March 2007.
96. These projects grew dramatically during the period of Prem's premiership; see Handley (note 13), Ch. 15.
97. Details regarding the monarchy's rural development projects may be found in Handley (note 13). For a sympathetic review of the sufficiency economy idea, see Priyanut Piboolsravut, 'Sufficiency Economy', ASEAN Economic Bulletin Vol. 21, No. 1 (2004), pp. 127-34.
98. This work cites some of the work by NGO supporters who have been attracted by its anti-capitalist, culturalist, and Buddhist orientation. For a critique of this kind of economic approach, see Kevin Hewison, 'Resisting Globalization: A Study of Localism in Thailand', The Pacific Review Vol. 13, No. 2 (2000), pp. 279-96.
99. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, 'Military Losing Post-Coup Momentum', Bangkok Post, 2 November 2006.
100. Interview in Far Eastern Economic Review, and reproduced at its website: http://www.feer.com/articles1/2006/0609/free/prem.html (accessed 6 October 2006).
101. Shawn Crispin, 'Thailand: All the King's Men', Asia Times Online, 21 September 2006, available at http://www.atimes.com (accessed 23 October 2006).
102. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, cited in 'Sufficiency Economy: Direction of the Ninth National and Economic Development Plan. In Pursuit of His Majesty's Philosophy', The Chaipattana Foundation Journal, available at http://www.chaipat.or.th/chaipat/journal/dec00/eng/ e_economy.html (accessed 1 February 2007).
103. The Nation, 27 September 2006.
104. For an important and revealing study of the clash of ideas and actions between the poor and dispossessed and the largely Bangkok-based middle class, arguing that 'pure democracy' can be dangerous for the elite and middle class, see Anek Laothamathas, Thaksina-prachaniyom [Thaksin-style Populism] (Bangkok: Matichon Books, 2007).
105. In an interview with Asia Media, 20 November 2006, available at http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentID~58318 (accessed 23 November 2006).
106. In Northwest Asian Weekly, 24 November 2006.
107. Pasuk Phongpaichit, Sangsit Piriyarangsan and Nualnoi Treerat, Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy and Public Policy (Chiangmai: Silkworm, 1998).
108. The Nation, 8 December 2006.
109. See United Press International, 2 March 2007, available at http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/ view.php?StoryID~20070302-124119-8486r (accessed 21 March 2007).
110. See Handley (note 13).
111. Interview in Far Eastern Economic Review, and reproduced at its website: http://www.feer.com/articles1/2006/0609/free/prem.html (accessed 6 October 2006).
112. See Handley (note 13).
113. Bangkok Post, 25 December 2006.
114. Cited in The Nation, 11 December 2006. The statement of these positions on the Pridi Banomyong Lawn at Thammasat University is highly symbolic as the university was established by Pridi, who had led the revolt against the absolute monarchy in 1932.