Form of state
Constitutional monarchy
The executive General Prayuth Chan-ocha seized executive power on behalf of the Thai armed forces on May 22nd 2014. The military rules via an appointed National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)
National legislature
The military coup in May 2014 means that the constitution is repealed and the national legislature dissolved. Under the previous constitution, the National Assembly consisted of the House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Senate (the upper house). Of the 500 members of the lower house, 125 were elected by proportional representation under a party-list system and 375 elected by geographical constituencies on a first-past- the-post basis. The 150-member upper house was only partly elected: 73 of its members were appointed by a selection committee National elections
The military has pledged to hold elections after carrying out unspecified political reforms. It is unclear when the next elections will be held and whether they will be fully democratic National government and opposition Under military rule the NCPO comprises the national government. The May 2014 coup ousted a caretaker government that had been led by Yingluck Shinawatra of the Puea Thai party. The conservative Democrat Party had been the main opposition to Yingluck.
Main political organisations
The main political parties are Puea Thai, the Democrat Party, Bhum Jai Thai, Chart Thai Pattana, Chart Pattana Puea Pandin and Palung Chon NCPO leader: General Prayuth Chan-ocha NCPO deputy leaders: General Thanasak Patimaprakorn Admiral Narong Pipathanasai Air Chief Marshal Prajin Jantong Police General Adul Saengsing-kaew
Under the previous constitution, the political system of Thailand is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.
A) The Executive Branch of Government
This branch of the government is headed by the Prime Minister and consists of several other ministers and ministries. The Prime Minister is elected by the House of Representatives which is a part of the Legislative branch of the government. Within the executive branch, there is a hierarchical system of governance and it consists of the following divisions.
1. Cabinet: Consists of the Prime minister and other ministers who are responsible for handling day to day operations of the government of Thailand.
2. Ministry of the Interior
3. Ministry of Finance
4. Ministry of Justice
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
6. Ministry of Commerce
7. Ministry of Defense
8. Ministry of Education
9. Ministry of Public Health
11. Ministry of Agriculture
12. Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
13. Ministry of Science and Technology
14. Ministry of Labour
15. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
16.Ministry of Culture
17. Ministry of Industry
18. Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment
19. Ministry of Social Development and Human Security
20. Ministry of Tourism and Sports
21. Ministry of Transport
B) The Legislative Branch of Government.
This is the law making section of the government which is also known as The National Assembly. This branch of the Thai Government consists of two arms with a separate set of responsibilities and they are given as follows:
1. House of Representatives-This is the lower house of the legislative branch and consists of 500 members of the Parliament.
2. The Senate-This is the upper house of the legislative branch of the government and has 200 members in total. This section of this branch is responsible for enactment of all the organic laws.
C) The Judicial Branch of Government
The third branch or arm of the government is the judicial branch which is responsible for making sure that all laws made by the legislative branch are properly enforced. This branch basically consists of all the courts of Thailand. The hierarchy of these courts is given as follows:
1. The constitutional Court-This is the most important court in Thailand and holds the power to review the application of any law that was involved in any previous case. The powers that this court holds are wide and very broad.
2. The Supreme Court-The Supreme Court and constitutional court are different bodies in Thailand.
3. The Appeal Courts– This is the second most powerful type of court category in Thailand and consists of those courts which are authorized to consider the appeal from trial courts.
4. The Trial Courts-These are the base levels courts in Thailand which consist of many courts, list of which is given as follows:
-District courts
-Provincial courts
-Central courts-central criminal courts and central civil courts
-Labor courts
-Military courts
-Juvenile courts
-Family courts
-International trade and intellectual property courts
Source :
http://www.hierarchystructure.com/thailand-political- hierarchy/
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/thai-government.htm