Rights
A 2017 constitution written after a coup, with an appointed senate role
Thailand's twentieth constitution since 1932 was promulgated in 2017 following the 2014 coup. It created a Constitutional Court and independent agencies with broad power to remove elected officials, and gave an appointed Senate a role in selecting the prime minister until 2024.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Unitary kingdom. The Constitutional Court rules on constitutionality and on the dissolution of political parties; its decisions bind all organs of state.
Governing law
- Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand2017
- Organic Act on Political Parties2018
- Criminal Code (s. 112 (lese-majeste))
In practice
The 2017 text entrenches a 20-year National Strategy that binds subsequent governments, and amendment requires supermajorities plus, for core chapters, a referendum. The Constitutional Court has repeatedly dissolved parties and removed office-holders, most prominently Future Forward in 2020 and Move Forward in 2024, which makes it the decisive actor in Thai politics rather than a residual one. Section 112 of the Criminal Code penalises insulting the monarchy with three to fifteen years per count and is charged frequently; it sits alongside constitutional protections for expression and is the sharpest constraint on political speech.