Pro-Democracy Rallies Highlight Constitution Day in Thailand; Analyst Calls Future “Uncertain”
“Three Months After Coup, Thailand’s Future Uncertain”
By Graham Lees
Worldpoliticswatch.com, December 14, 2006

Despite a military coup that discarded the Thai constitution in September, the country observed “Constitution Day” on December 10th, a national holiday designated to “reflect on the charters importance.”  The Thai military threw out the “much lauded 1997 constitution” after overthrowing the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Thaskin because of the loopholes they believe allowed for abuse and corruption. 

Despite these claims by the military, other analysts find ulterior motives in their actions claiming that “there is nothing wrong with the discarded People’s Constitution, accept that it could have landed the generals in court (for their role in the coup).”  Since obtaining power because of Thaskin’s “corruption” the military has yet to file charges against the deposed prime minister, and he still travels under his diplomatic passport. 

Constitution Day in Thailand also featured a major pro-democracy and anti-coup rally in Bangkok that involved several thousand protestors demanding national elections.  According to the article “many people from outside Bangkok were prevented from attending the rally by police and army roadblocks.”  The calls of the protestors were echoes of a publication days earlier in the Bangkok’s Nation newspaper that called for “putting the country back on a course for genuine, robust and incorruptible democracy.”  

In his story Graham Lees reports that it is still too early to be certain of the political outcome from the coup.  A new constitution will be drafted “by a group handpicked by the military,” and national elections will not be held until next year at the earliest.  It concludes by observing that September’s coup “is just like the 19 before- preoccupied with power and with maintaining the old hierarchal order…”