Thailand » Politics

The king Bhumibol Adulyadej has little direct power under the constitution but is the anointed protector of Thai Buddhism and a symbol of national identity and unity. The present monarch enjoys a great deal of popular respect and moral authority, which has on occasion been used to resolve political crises. It is illegal to mock or criticize the King and doing so can bring about charges of lèse majesté. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the king from among the members of the lower house of parliament, usually the leader of the party that can organise a majority coalition government. 

The bicameral Thai parliament is the National Assembly (rathasapha) which consists of a House of Representatives (sapha phuthaen ratsadon) of 500 seats and a Senate (wuthisapha) of 200 seats. Members of both houses are elected by popular vote. The House of Representatives is elected by the first-past-the-post system, where only one candidate with a simple majority will be elected in one constituency.

A military junta overthrew the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006. The junta abrogated the constitution, dissolved Parliament and the Constitutional Court, arrested several members of the government, declared martial law, and appointed General Surayud Chulanont as Prime Minister. Martial law was not revoked until January 2007.

Flights on the Bangkok international airports are preserved. These flights are resumed after a full week protests from the antigovernment parties. These protests were fueled by People’s alliance for the democracy. Previously the Bangkok international airport was under siege by these antigovernment protestors.

All sort of International flights were blocked due to these protests and serious kind of siege of this international airport. 

It is the second time; the constitutional court of Thailand is removing a prime minister from his seat. Both prime ministers were belonged to the PPP or People power party.

Mr. SomchaiWongsawat was deposed on by the constitutional court due to the corruption charges on him and his People Power Party. Mr Somchai Wongsawat had accepted the ruling against him. 

On 15 December 2008 Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the main opposition democrat party became the 27th prime minister of the country. Voting had been done by the special polling within the parliament. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva succeeded 235 votes from the assembly.  

This collation setup will remain for few weeks. Next election will be held on 11 January 2009. Upcoming election will be held on the 29 seats of the Malaysian parliament.