Observations on Constitution Drafting and Public Hearings (Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, May 22, 2007) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Public Hearings on Thailand’s Draft Constitution: Impressions from Chachoengsao Province.
KPI Thai Politics Up-date. No. 3 , 2007
Observations on six public hearings, which took place between May 14 to May 18, are reported. The papers details how the hearings were organized and conducted. It is shown that these hearings in fact were not at all public, but rather deliberately aimed at recruiting people connected to the state sector. Similar to what politicians do when mobilizing participants for their election rallies, the provincial-level branch of the Constitution Drafting Assembly even paid 100 baht “travel allowance” per head for those attending the hearings. As for what the participants said on constitutional issues, six of them are reported in some detail, namely Buddhism as national religion, education rights, decentralization, Members of Parliament, senators, and the crisis group. The conclusion briefly throws some critical light on two elements of the dominant political culture that compete with the model of democratic politics. The first point contrasts the ideas of individual citizenship (democracy) with that of collective compliance (authoritarianism), as symbolized in the “yellow shirt” phenomenon throughout the hearings. The second point confronts the official “nation, religion, King” ideology with the democratic model of “citizens, constitution, politicians, elected government.”
This paper adds to my analysis of the drafting of the election system that occurred in the Constitution Drafting Committee of 2007 (Nelson 2010, Nelson 2013a). It also complements my paper on the political attitudes that the members of the 2007 CDC held regarding voters, Members of Parliament, and political parties (Nelson 2013b). For a policy perspective based on the same set of sources, see Ploy Suebvises (2010). 2 The sources concern the first CDC meeting that substantively turned to drafting the election system of the 2016 Constitution, that is, meeting no. 14 on 26 October 2015. That the intentions of constitution-making and its effects can be wide apart should have given the CDC's chairperson, Meechai Ruchuphan, a sense of déjà vu. He also chaired the CDC after the military coup of 1991. One of the most controversial elements of the constitution that he helped design concerned the stipulation that the prime minister did not need to be a member of the House. This paved the way for coup leader Suchinda Kraprayoon to become prime minister, followed by mass protests, and a bloody crackdown of the military on the protesters, known as "Black May 1992."
Constitution making and public participation in Southeast Asia
David Landau and Hanna Lerner, Comparative constitution-making. Edward Elgar, 2019
In this chapter I consider contemporary constitution-making efforts across Southeast Asia. I explore the process of constitution-making and the forms and extent of public involvement across constitution-making under UN administration (East Timor and Cambodia); under military rule (Thailand and Myanmar); under democratic transition (Indonesia and Philippines) and under dominant party rule (Singapore, Malaysia). I focus on two forms of constitution-making in Southeast Asia: drafting a new constitution, and constitution-making via formal constitutional amendment. The political conditions under which constitution-making takes place influences the legitimacy of any public participation, and the history of participation in constitution-making affects the extent of participation in present efforts at reform. Although various forms of public participation have been employed, there have often been serious concerns raised as to the freedoms of individuals to participate and the perceived legitimacy of the final outcome. The region of Southeast Asia requires us to reexamine the actual conditions or prerequisites for genuine participation in constitution-making.
The military draft in Thailand: a critique from a nonkilling global political science perspective
Global Change, Peace & Security, 2018
Thailand has had mandatory military service since 1905 and since 1954 via a lottery system. Beatings and deaths frequently occur among draftees, and photographs and videos in which draftees are injured, tortured, and humiliated are widespread. This article describes for the first time the development and nature of the Thai military draft. The authors analyse the military draft from a nonkilling global political science perspective and present a nonkilling rationale for ending the draft. The article argues that retaining the military draft promotes a killing society and violates human rights, including the right to conscientious objection; causes mental anguish; is inefficient economically; causes corruption; and supports military interventionism. The authors further maintain that physical abuse that has accompanied the Thai version of military conscription constitutes a pro-killing manifestation of the military regime's approach to maintaining the existing institutional alignment and control in Glenn Paige's 'funnel of killing'. Instead, we recommend converting the draft to a national service program with civilian alternatives, together with conscientious objection as a right.
The military draft in Thailand a critique from a nonkilling global political science perspective.pdf
Global Change, Peace & Security, 2018
Thailand has had mandatory military service since 1905 and since 1954 via a lottery system. Beatings and deaths frequently occur among draftees, and photographs and videos in which draftees are injured, tortured, and humiliated are widespread. This article describes for the first time the development and nature of the Thai military draft. The authors analyse the military draft from a nonkilling global political science perspective and present a nonkilling rationale for ending the draft. The article argues that retaining the military draft promotes a killing society and violates human rights, including the right to conscientious objection; causes mental anguish; is inefficient economically; causes corruption; and supports military interventionism. The authors further maintain that physical abuse that has accompanied the Thai version of military conscription constitutes a pro-killing manifestation of the military regime’s approach to maintaining the existing institutional alignment and control in Glenn Paige’s ‘funnel of killing’. Instead, we recommend converting the draft to a national service program with civilian alternatives, together with conscientious objection as a right.