In Siam, we had a new constitution on 24 August 2007. This was the result of the coup d’état on 19 September 2006. The constitution was drafted by the General Assembly, which was appointed by the military junta. The military junta stepped down from power on 29 January 2008. We had a general election on 23 December 2007. The ruling party, People’s Power Party, is known to be a puppet of the former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by the September coup. His Thai Rak Thai party was dissolved.
In fact some believe we could have removed Thaksin from power by constitutional means, but the powers-that-be seemed to prefer a military putsch. Thus far, Thais had experienced 18 coups since the beginning of the reign of King Rama IX. Indeed, the People’s Alliance for Democracy was gathering in the middle of Bangkok for 33 days and nights with the average of over one hundred thousand citizens each night. There were gathering in thousands at many provincial towns too — in order to get rid of the corrupt regime at that time. ASTV broadcast the events live to those who could receive this channel, 24 hours daily all over the country and in many other countries too.
Vol.24-No.3-Sept.-Dec.-2551-2008_compressed
