The resounding protests of Thai students, fighting for democracy, echo throughout the newspaper headings of the past and present. The current pro-democratic protests continue the trend of constant flux in Thailand’s political system since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932 through the repeated reforms of constitutions since 1932, its struggle against the established norms of Thailand’s hierarchical values and attitudes towards the socio-economic system by the call for democracy, and the continuation of military power in Thailand. The repeated reforms of constitutions reflect the instability in Thailand’s political system’s ability to be able to institutionalize its ideals and goals to bring change. The students’ realization of issues
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Student activism throughout history, especially that of 1957, has been against the military’s dictatorship and corruption. The current democratic protests today, once again, reflect the battle between students and the military junta. In 1932, Pridi Banomyang (1900-1983) introduced the first democratic Thai Constitution after his overthrow of King Rama VII through the People’s Party. From the start, the 1932 Constitution portrayed that democracy was unlikely to succeed in the country due to the fact that itself and many of the earlier, following Constitutions “emphasized only the process of democracy without paying attention to another equally important side of the system, namely the principle or objective of democracy: the guarantee for life, library, and the pursuit of happiness of individuals within the confines of the common good.” 1 This Constitution, a weak, unreliable, and self-serving array of documents, became the foundation for many future Constitutions to come. The members of the People’s Party of 1932 and following, established Government around the late 1940’s were solely concerned with the benefits of themselves, creating an unreliable model of a Constitution from the start. The Thai version of “democracy appears to be nothing more than a …show more content…
This system embodied Buddhist teachings through establishing the monarch as a paternalistic figure to the nation with a natural right to rule the people. The people were expected to “accept their leader without question as the latter knew what was best for them, individually and collectively, even better than the people themselves.” 4 This had, almost entirely, eliminated the democratic concept of liberty and individual rights. Next in line was the 1978 Constitution established Prachathipatai Khreung Bai or limited and guided democracy. This particular system created the foundation for extreme social injustice in Thailand through giving great power to the elite. The true reins of the government “steadily changed hands from those of the traditional elite whose claim to rule was founded on their knowledge, expertise and often questionable high moral ground, to those of the new elite who literally bought their way into Parliament, the highest political institution, through often ill-begotten wealth
Student activism throughout history, especially that of 1957, has been against the military’s dictatorship and corruption. The current democratic protests today, once again, reflect the battle between students and the military junta. In 1932, Pridi Banomyang (1900-1983) introduced the first democratic Thai Constitution after his overthrow of King Rama VII through the People’s Party. From the start, the 1932 Constitution portrayed that democracy was unlikely to succeed in the country due to the fact that itself and many of the earlier, following Constitutions “emphasized only the process of democracy without paying attention to another equally important side of the system, namely the principle or objective of democracy: the guarantee for life, library, and the pursuit of happiness of individuals within the confines of the common good.” 1 This Constitution, a weak, unreliable, and self-serving array of documents, became the foundation for many future Constitutions to come. The members of the People’s Party of 1932 and following, established Government around the late 1940’s were solely concerned with the benefits of themselves, creating an unreliable model of a Constitution from the start. The Thai version of “democracy appears to be nothing more than a …show more content…
This system embodied Buddhist teachings through establishing the monarch as a paternalistic figure to the nation with a natural right to rule the people. The people were expected to “accept their leader without question as the latter knew what was best for them, individually and collectively, even better than the people themselves.” 4 This had, almost entirely, eliminated the democratic concept of liberty and individual rights. Next in line was the 1978 Constitution established Prachathipatai Khreung Bai or limited and guided democracy. This particular system created the foundation for extreme social injustice in Thailand through giving great power to the elite. The true reins of the government “steadily changed hands from those of the traditional elite whose claim to rule was founded on their knowledge, expertise and often questionable high moral ground, to those of the new elite who literally bought their way into Parliament, the highest political institution, through often ill-begotten wealth