Download or read book The Constitutional System of Thailand written by Andrew Harding and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the introductory chapter in 'The Constitutional System of Thailand: A Contextual Analysis' - the chapter seeks to provide an historical overview and analysis of Thai constitutionalism. First we look at Thai constitutional history leading up to the 1932 coup against the absolute monarchy, before reflecting on the main developments that followed in its wake. This historical prelude is of fundamental importance to understanding how Thailand's hyper-constitution-making, as set out in the Preface and discussed further in this chapter, can be assessed. We turn next to consider the significance of the 1997 Constitution which, despite its limited duration, redefined the parameters of the contemporary debate because it not only recognized most aspects of the present institutional architecture but also placed great emphasis on protecting human rights and combating corruption. The later sections proceed to discuss matters which are not dealt with in an explanatory way in the constitutional texts, namely the military coups and the constitutional role of the military, and the monarchy.