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Thailand has both a king - His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej
- and a Prime Minister - Samak Sundaravej. Thailand
is a constitutional monarchy, which means that the
Prime Minister is the head of government and the king
is the head of state.
Thailand had been ruled by the monarchy since the
thirteenth century, with the current king taking the
throne on June 9, 1946.
Thailand officially became a constitutional monarchy
in 1932. Although the King of Thailand does not have
much direct power under the constitution, he is a
symbol of national identity and unity.
Thailand is a country with a fiery political history.
The last coup d'etat forced a general election on
23 December 2007. The People Power Party, led by Mr.
Samak Sundaravej, won the majority of seats. A civilian
coalition government was formed on 28 January 2008
with five other minor parties leaving the Democrats,
led by Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, as the only opposition
party.
Under the new 2007 Constitution Thai legislature
is called the National Assembly or informally, the
Parliament. It comprises a House of Representatives
of 480 seats and a Senate of 150 seats.
The main active political parties in Thailand are
the People's Power Party, the Democrat Party, Thai
Nation Party, For the Motherland, Thais United National
Development Party, the Neutral Democratic Party and
the Royalist People's Party.
Under the new legislations, it is agreed that elections
will take place once a year and all Thai citizens
are expected to vote.
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