Background
Following the 2006 coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the ruling military junta of the Council for National Security repealed the 1997 "People's" Constitution and introduced an interim constitution. The 1997 constitution was Thailand's most democratic constitution: it created a bicameral legislature where both houses were directly and democratically elected, and the prime minister was elected solely by the National Assembly. [3] The new 2007 constitution was drafted and then adopted after Thailand's first referendum was held on 19 August 2007. A majority (57.81%) of voters were in favour of the new constitution, whilst opposition was concentrated in the north and northeast where Thaksin and his parties were popular. [4] The referendum was followed by the return of elections in December. However, the new referendum was also seen as an attempt to contain the influence of Thaksin and his allies. [5] Between 2007 and 2014, Thaksin-friendly politicians became Prime Ministers and in 2011 his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was elected prime minister. A political crisis led to her removal in 2014, followed by a coup d'état in 2014 that replaced the 2007 constitution with the 2014 interim constitution. The ruling military junta of the National Council for Peace and Order began drafting a new constitution and criticism of it was banned. The 2016 referendum saw 61.4% of voters approve of it, and it was adopted in 2017. [6] [7] [8] The 2017 constitution had no clause that allows for a complete rewrite. [9]
Following the removal of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra by the Constitutional Court on 29 August 2025, the conservative Bhumjaithai Party entered into negotiations with the progressive People's Party to secure their support to back Anutin Charnvirakul as prime minister. In an agreement between the two parties, the People's Party agreed to support Anutin on the terms that Anutin dissolve the House within four months, Bhumjaithai must maintain a minority coalition, and must also initiate the process of amending the 2017 constitution and hold a referendum if required. [10] The referendum on whether to amend the constitution would then lead to the establishment of an elected constitution drafting assembly and must be held no later than the general election. If the Constitutional Court did not find a referendum necessary, an elected drafting assembly would be established. [11]
On 10 September, the Constitutional Court voted 6-1 that three referendums are required to begin the process of drafting a new constitution, and members of the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) cannot be directly elected. The ruling followed a petition by Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, speaker of the House of Representatives, under Section 210 (1)(2). In a 5–2 vote, the court found that the House had the authority to begin the charter rewrite process but this must be preceded by a referendum asking voters if they approve of a rewrite. In the three referendums required by the court, the first should ask whether a new constitution should be drafted, the second will seek public opinion on the principles and methods of the rewrite, whilst the third will ask if voters approve of the new constitution. The first and second referendums may be combined. [12] [13]
Following the Court's ruling, the People's Party, Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai submitted their own separate draft constitutional amendment bills to Parliament to amend Article 256 of Chapter 15 and to add an extra chapter to allow for a new constitution to be drafted. Parliament met on October 14 and 15 to discuss the three proposals. [9] Pheu Thai's version proposed the establishment of a CDA with 151 members. 100 members were to be chosen by Parliament from an election of 300 candidates, whilst the other 51 would be nominated and chosen by Parliament and the Cabinet. A drafting committee of 27 members would then be formed and would consist of 14 members from the CDA and 13 from other fields like law and political science. After draft amendments are completed, they would be submitted to Parliament for approval before a public referendum would confirm them. [14] The People's Party's version proposed that a CDA of 35 members selected by Parliament from a list of 70 people elected by voters be formed along an advisory council of 100 elected members with the goal of gathering public opinion to advise the CDA. Bhumjaithai's version proposes that the CDA should be made of 99 members made up of 77 selected by Parliament from a list so each province is represented by one member and 22 experts in law, political science, and other relevant fields. Members of the drafting committee would then be selected by the CDA. It also reduces the number of Senate votes needed to pass amendments from a third to a fifth of senators. The Bhumjaithai and Pheu Thai bills prohibit changes to the political system and state structure described in Chapters 1 and 2, whilst the People's Party contains elements from those two chapters. [9]
On October 15, Parliament (both the House and Senate) voted to pass the People's Party and Bhumjaithai's bills in their first readings. The People's Party's bill received 460 votes from MPs and 108 from Senators (total of 568), whilst the Bhumjaithai's bill received 462 votes from MPs and 167 votes from Senators (total of 629). Pheu Thai's bill received 561 votes, only 60 coming from the Senate. It failed to pass as it failed to gain the support of a third of Senators. A 43 member panel of 12 Senators and 31 MPs from eight parties (People's Party, Pheu Thai, Bhumjaithai, Kla Tham, Democrat, Thai Sang Thai, Palang Pracharath, Chart Thai Pattana, and Prachachart) was then formed to scrutinise the bills, with the People's Party's bill being the main draft. [15]
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