A coup against the 1997 constitution (Chang Noi)

This little article gives the essential background history on how and why the military opposed the 1997 "People's Constitution". Military control of the broadcast media has been a major point of contention:

"The military’s second objection was to Section 40 which declares that “Transmission frequencies for radio or television broadcasting and radio telecommunication are national communication resources for public interest,” and mandates a commission to manage these resources “to utmost public benefit.” This clause threatened to destroy the military’s octopus-like control of Thailand’s broadcast media. This control delivers a large income, both official and unofficial. It allows the military to put out a constant stream of propaganda on its own importance. It was justified by an argument about “national security” which had lost any meaning since the collapse of any communist threat, internal or external. Hence it was very vulnerable to challenge."

Other conservative forces have opposed the 1997 Constitution:

"The military chiefs were not the only powerful group which was horrified at provisions in the 1997 charter. The Ministry of Interior was opposed to decentralization. Bureaucrats in general were irked by the freedom of information law. Police disliked granting rights to suspects. MPs grumbled about the separation of powers which would deny them access to ministerships. And so on. Most of all, there was a general conservative horror at a constitution which gave the people such a long list of rights and freedoms (forty clauses), and which introduced some tentative elements of direct democracy such as the right to introduce a bill or impeach a politician with the backing of enough signatures."

"Since the introduction of the 1997 constitution, there has been a massive effort to sandbag its more ambitious clauses. The Ministry of Interior has slowed down decentralization. The police have simply ignored constraints on their mode of operation. No people’s bill has passed through parliament. The Freedom of Information Act delivered only minor triumphs. Most of all, the military fought a brilliant rearguard action against the 1997 constitution’s intention to liberalize the broadcast media."