Thailand and Thai News

Country Profile

Thailand(formerly known as Siam)officially the Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia.Thailand is divided into 76 Provinces which are are gathered into 5 groups of provinces by location. There are also 2 special governed districts: the Capital Bangkok and Pattaya, of which Bangkok is at Provincial level and thus often counted as a Province.

Capital                             Bangkok
Currency                          Baht
Official Language             Thai
Population                        67 Million(2011 Estimate)
Ethnic Groups                 75% Thai;14%Chinese;3%Malay and 8% Others


Thailand is a Constitutional Monarchy where the Prime Minister is the Head of Govt. and a Hereditary Monarch is Head of State.


 Monarchy of Thailand

 
The Monarchy of Thailand (also referred to as the King of Thailand or historically as King of Siam)refers to the Constitutional Monarchy and Monarch of the Kingdom of Thailand (formerly Siam). The King of Thailand is the Head of State.
The current monarch of Thailand is His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej(DOB Dec 05,1927) who reigns since June 09,1946, making him the World's Longest Reigning Current Monarch and the world’s Longest serving Head of State,that is, nearly 65 years.The King is known as Rama IX(kings in the Current Chakri Dynasty of Thailand are referred to as Rama)

National Assembly of Thailand 

 

National Assembly of Thailand is Bicameral - Senate(Upper House) consisting of 150 Senate Members and House of Representatives(Lower House)consists of 500 Representatives
The Assembly has 650 members, 576 of which are elected (500 MPs and 76 Senators). Others include 74 non elected (74 Senators through party selection)
The majority of elections in Thailand follows the First Past the Post System(election won with most votes secured) which is used in the elections for the 375 members of the House of Representatives and 76 members of the Senate.
 The remaining 125 members of the House of Representatives are elected by Party List Proportional Representation.The remaining 74 Senators are selected from the following sectors: from the academic sector, the public sector, the private sector, the professional sector and other sectors, by the Senate Selection Committee. It forbids members from holding any additional office or membership in Political Parties.
The Senate's term lasts six years.
 House of Representative's term lasts four years.

Thai PM survives no-confidence vote - Wednesday Nov 28,2012

Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra comfortably survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday following a heated debate on the government’s rice-pledging scheme and flood management budget.

Wednesday’s vote came after a three-day censure debate, and four days after a demonstration by thousands of protesters who called for the overthrow of the government, citing corruption as one of the reasons. 

The opposition was outnumbered in parliament, however, and lawmakers voted 308 to 159 to keep Yingluck in power

Thailand Senate rejects amnesty bill Monday Nov 11,2013

Thailand's Senate on Monday Nov 11,2013 has rejected amnesty bill that could have led to the return of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

The bill, which was proposed by the governing Pheu Thai party, applied to offences committed during the upheaval after Thaksin Shinawatra was removed from office

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra 's Govt had argued that the legislation was a necessary step towards reconciliation, after several years of political turmoil. This turmoil included the occupation of Bangkok's main airport in 2008 and then two months of street protests in Bangkok in 2010 that left about 90 people - mostly civilian protesters - dead

Thailand's Troubles

• Sept 2006: Army overthrows government of Thaksin Shinawatra, rewrites constitution
• Dec 2007: Pro-Thaksin  People Power Party wins most votes in election
• Aug 2008: Thaksin Shinawatra flees into exile before end of corruption trial
• Dec 2008: Mass yellow-shirt protests paralyse Bangkok; Constitutional Court bans People Power Party; Abhisit Vejjajiva comes to power
• Mar-May 2010: Thousands of pro-Thaksin  red shirts occupy parts of Bangkok; eventually cleared by army; dozens killed
• July 2011: Yingluck Shinawatra leads Pheu Thai party to general election win

As the bill went to the Senate, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bangkok. As protests gathered strength, the governing Pheu Thai party withdrew its support from the bill and all 141 senators present voted against it.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra - who is  Thaksin Shinawatra's sister - has promised to respect the Senate's decision

The amnesty would have applied to offences committed during the political turmoil after Thailand's 2006 coup, which ousted Thaksin Shinawatra

The main opposition Democrat Party believed the bill was aimed at allowing Thaksin Shinawatra to return to Thailand without having to serve a jail sentence

The lower house passed the bill on Friday Nov 01,2013 .The opposition Democrat Party has warned that the passage of the bill will trigger street protests and did not take part in the vote, but the bill passed by 310 votes to 0
despite an opposition boycott