KINGDOM OF THAILAND Official name: Prathet Thai (Kingdom of Thailand) Location: South East Asia International organisations: The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, The Association of South East Asian Nations, The Non-Aligned Movement, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia Coastline: Andaman Sea, Gulf of Thailand Land area: 514,000 Km2 Population: 62,300,000 Ethnicity: The majority of the population idenify as Thai even if Thai is not their first language. There are minorities of Lao, Chinese, Malay and Khmer. Languages: Thai is the official language, but only 53% speak it as their first language. Lao 27%, Chinese 12%, Malay 3.7%, Khmer 2.7%. Religion: Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%

Form of government: Monarchy, currently under military rule. Thailand is divided into 76 provinces.


Capital: Bangkok (Krung Thep)
Constitution: The new Constitution of Thailand was signed by the King on 11 October 1997. It was suspended following the military coup of September 2006.
Head of state: King Phumiphon Adunyadet came to the throne on 9 June 1946.
Head of government: Normally the Prime Minister is appointed by the King, and is the leader of the largest party in the legislature, to which he is accountable. Following the following the military coup of September 2006 the position is held by an army officer.
Legislature: The National Assembly (Ratha Sapha) is a bicameral legislature. The House of Representatives (Saphaputhan Ratsadon) has 438 members, elected for four-year terms. Of these, 338 members are elected from multi-members constituencies and 100 members are elected by proportional representation. The Senate (Wuthisapha) has 200 members, elected from single-member constituencies. The Senate is a non-partisan chamber. The legislature is currently suspended.
Electoral authority: The Election Commission of Thailand conducts national elections.
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 2, Civil Liberties 3

Political history

Thailand, a united kingdom since the 13th century, was an absolute monarchy until 1932, when an army coup led to the adoption of a western system of government. Real power, however, was held by the army. The military government was allied with Japan 1941-44, and in 1944, to avoid Allied occupation, it resigned and allowed the democratic opposition to come to power.

The army returned to power after another coup in 1947. There were further coups in 1948, 1951, 1957 and 1959, preventing every attempt by the democratic parties to establish a stable civilian government.

In 1973 the long-serving military ruler Thanom Kittakachorn retired and there was a return to democratic government. But in 1976 another, much more bloody, coup returned the army to power under Thanin Kraivixien and his successors Kriangsak Chomanan and Prem Tinsulanonda.

In 1988 there was another return to civilian government under Chatichai Choonhavan, followed by the inevitable coup in 1991. But this time the people of Thailand had had enough, and the army's attempt to impose Suchinda Kraprayoon as Prime Minister led to a popular revolt in Bangkok in which many people died.

Intervention by the King led to the withdrawal of the army from politics and promulgation of a fully democratic constitution in 1997. Under Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai there was considerable economic and political progress, but Thailand was hard-hit by the economic crisis of 1997.

Disillusionment with existing political options led to the triumph of businessman Thaksin Shinawatra and his populist Thais Love Thais party at the 2000 elections. The older parties, the liberal Democratic Party of Chuan Leekpai and the conservative Thai Nation Party, were heavily defeated. Thaksin had an even more sweeping election victory in early 2005, but he then became mired in corruption scandals and his popularity declined. An snap election in April 2006 was boycotted by the opposition, leading to a prolonged political crisis culminating in the military coup of September 2006.