One year later…

September marks the anniversary of Thailand's bloodless coup, when the country's love-to-hate Prime Minister was deposed by a military junta and martial law came to rule the land. The event itself was not terribly exciting, with a couple of tanks rolling around Bangkok and coming to a stop outside the PM's residence, only to find that he was out of town for the weekend. Just a handful of people could have told you that it was even going on at the time- Keeks was flying home that very day and experienced no delays or repercussions one might expect when traveling in a country in the midst of a government takeover.

Now, one year later, Thailand looks to be displeased with their options. On the one hand, they got "Thaksin out!" and the Council of National Security (as the junta styles itself) have done their best to remove his Thai Rak Thai party from Thailand's political equation. But this is also the party the people elected to power and last month citizens voted in the country's first ever referendum, supporting the draft for a new military-backed constitution with only 57% of votes. The north-east, the most populous of Thailand's regions and the heartland of the former PM, rejected the charter with 62% of votes.

The draft for the new constitution will go to general election on December 16th, eleven days after the King's 80th birthday. Essentially the charter has weakened Thailand's elected politicians and strengthened the hand of the bureaucracy and military. For instance, the charter mandates that nearly half of the Senate body will be appointed by a seven-person committee selected from Thailand's judiciary. Besides dragging the judiciary into Thai politics, this will ensure that the Senate becomes a place for retired civil servants and other good old boys. Even more worrisome is the pending National Security Act (sound familiar?) which promises to give the army commander in chief martial law powers above and beyond the prime minister, thus allowing the military to institutionalize themselves.