Constitution Day

Today is Constitution Day, a legal holiday to celebrate the anniversary of Thailand's first constitution, which was adopted in 1932. The 1932 Constitution established a constitutional monarchy to replace the absolute monarchy that had previously ruled.

The U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1789 and remains in place today. Since 1932, Thailand has had a total of seventeen constitutions. Some remained in place for a number of years, including the 1997 Constitution which lasted until 2006, and the 1978 Constitution which was the law of the land until 1991. There were other stretches where constitutions had a much shorter shelf life. There were new constitutions in 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978. There were also three constitutions in the later half of the 1940's.

The current constitution was adopted in 2007 to re-establish democracy after the 2006 coup. The coup leaders appointed scholars and politicians to draft the 2007 constitution, which the Thai people approved by a vote of 58% to 42%.

There are already those who want to change the current constitution, although not scrap it all together. Many of its critics say that in attempting to remove corruption from government, it has made governing much too difficult. The Constitutional Court has already dissolved two governments in less than a year citing constitutional violations.