Government in Thailand

  • 'Long Live the King' to celebrate his 87th birthday at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok

    THAILAND, 2015/12/02 Back in February 2005, Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai was re-elected with a bumper majority. But as Thaksin consolidated ever additional power, his opponents became anxious. The Democrat Party worried that it would at no time again control the levers of government, as the outspoken telco billionaire entirely monopolised the political process. His influence on military and bureaucratic promotions hinted that he would not stop until all key positions were held by his trusted aides.   In the lead up to the 2006 coup Thaksin was targeted by a chorus of self-righteous outrage. But Thaksin must still have felt confident. A lot of had suggested that Thailand’s heavily politicised armed forces had ‘returned to the barracks’ for good. We presently know that such talk was premature. For almost a decade, Thai politics has been caught in a seemingly limitless spiral of push-and-shove between Thaksin’s supporters and those who backed the 2006 coup. But the deadlock has additional to do with the Thai palace than the politics of Thaksin’s democratic rise.
  • Allegations of Plot Against Thai Government Unfounded: Opposition

    THAILAND, 2015/11/27 Allegations by Thailand's prime minister that members of the opposition planned to attack senior officials are baseless and designed to deflect attention from a corruption investigation, one of the major opposition groups said on Friday. Accusations of graft involving a park built to honor Thailand's monarchy are threatening to damage an anti-graft drive by the ruling junta, which seized power last year vowing to clean up government and protect royal prestige. The graft accusations, leveled by some Thai media and opposition groups, have transfixed a country anxious over the declining health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87.