Until 22 May 2014, the politics of Thailand were conducted within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the prime minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches.
The Bangkok Post is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount at the time when a baht was a paper note. It is Thailand's oldest newspaper still in publication. The daily circulation of the Bangkok Post is 110,000, 80 percent of which is distributed in Bangkok and the remainder nationwide. It is considered a newspaper of record for Thailand.
The Nation is an English-language daily digital newspaper founded in 1971, published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of two English-language dailies in Bangkok, the other being the Bangkok Post. On 28 June 2019, it published its final broadsheet edition leaving only its online edition.
Thailand has a well-developed mass media sector, especially by Southeast Asian standards. The Thai government and the military have long exercised considerable control, especially over radio and TV stations. During the governments of Thaksin Shinawatra and the subsequent military-run administration after the 2006 coup and military coup of 2014, the media in Thailand—both domestic and foreign—have suffered from increasing restrictions and censorship, sometimes subtle, sometimes overt.
Mom Rajawongse Pridiyathorn Devakula is a Thai economist. He was the Governor of the Bank of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Following the 2006 Thai coup d'état he served as minister of finance and deputy prime minister in the interim civilian government led by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. Following the 2014 Thai coup d'état he was appointed as a deputy prime minister in the first military appointed cabinet under General Prayut Chan-o-cha. Two days earlier he had resigned from his position as chairman of the board of Post Publishing PLC, the publisher of the Bangkok Post, Thailand's leading English-language newspaper.
The Government of Thailand, or formally the Royal Thai Government, is the unitary government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The country emerged as a modern nation state after the foundation of the Chakri Dynasty and the city of Bangkok in 1782. The Revolution of 1932 brought an end to absolute monarchy and replaced it with a constitutional monarchy.
Anupong Paochinda is a Thai politician and retired army officer. He held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2007 until his retirement on 30 September 2009.
Prayut Chan-o-cha is a Thai retired politician and army officer Privy Council, the 29th Prime Minister of Thailand from 2014, when he seized power in a military coup, to 2023. He also served as the minister of defence, a position he held in his own government from 2019 to 2023. Prayut served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2010 to 2014 and led the 2014 Thai coup d'état which installed the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta which governed Thailand between 22 May 2014 and 10 July 2019.
Prawit Wongsuwon is a Thai politician who served as the First Deputy Prime Minister from 2014 to 2023, Minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 during the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and from 2014 to 2019 in the first government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He also previously served as the deputy chairman of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a military junta which ruled Thailand from 2014 to 2019. From 2004 to 2005 he was the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army (RTA).
General elections were held in Thailand on 24 March 2019. They were the first elections since the 2014 Thai coup d'état that installed coup leader General Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister, and the first held in accordance with the 2017 constitution, which was drafted under the ruling military junta. The elections selected the five hundred members of the new House of Representatives, the previous House having been dissolved by the coup.
The National Council for Peace and Order was the military junta that ruled Thailand between its 2014 Thai coup d'état on 22 May 2014 and 10 July 2019. On 20 May 2014, the military declared martial law nationwide in an attempt to stop the country's escalating political crisis, and to force the democratically elected government out of office. On 22 May, the military removed the Yingluck Shinawatra government and formed the NCPO to take control of the country. The junta censored the broadcasting system in Thailand, suspended most of the constitution, and detained members of the Thai cabinet. The NCPO was formally dissolved following the swearing-in of the new cabinet on 16 July 2019. Critics like former Thai ambassador Pithaya Pookaman charge that the NCPO "...is practically still very much intact. Its arbitrary power[s] ... transferred to the existing Internal Security Operations Command chaired by the prime minister."
The year 2014 was the 233rd year of the Rattanakosin Kingdom of Thailand. It was the 69th year in the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and is reckoned as year 2557 in the Buddhist Era. Significant events include the continuing political crisis which led to a coup d'état on 22 May.
Suchart Sawatsi is a Thai editor and writer. He has been described as "the single most influential figure in the contemporary Thai literary world".
Kanok Ratwongsakul is well-known Thai journalist, now he served as the news anchor of TOP News, which he also served as one of its shareholders of TOP News Digital Media Co., Ltd. alongside his spouse Lakkana Ratwongsakul and the main owner, Sonthiyan Chuenruthainaitham. He previously served as Senior Vice President of the Nation Group.
Palang Pracharath Party is a Thai civil-military political party with ties to the National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta that ruled the country after the 2014 coup. It was established in 2018 by Chuan Chuchan and Suchart Jantarachotikul.
The year 2020 is the 239th year of the Rattanakosin Kingdom of Thailand. It is the fifth year in the reign of King Vajiralongkorn, and is reckoned as year 2563 in the Buddhist Era. The year was most significantly marked the by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which reached Thailand in January, as well as widespread youth-led protest movements against the government and for reform of the monarchy.
The First Prayut cabinet, formally known as the 61st Council of Ministers, was formed on 30 August 2014. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the coup leader against then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's caretaker government and later appointed as leader of the National Council for Peace and Order, was elected as prime minister on 21 August 2014 and received the appointment from the royal command on 24 August 2014.
Puttipong Punnakanta, also written as Buddhipongse Punnakanta is a Thai politician. He served as Minister of Digital Economy and Society in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha from 10 July 2019 until he was removed from office. In February 2021, he was found guilty of insurrection during protests that led to the 2014 coup d'état. He was released from prison on bail, later in February 2021, which stands in contrast to his sentence still standing at a prison term of seven years.
The year 2022 is reckoned as year 2565 in the Buddhist Era. The year was marked by anticipated APEC meetings, the first Bangkok governor election after the 2014 coup, and raising inflation following COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
