Academics call for a new constitution, an overhaul of security laws, and social welfare policies instead of populist election campaigns. 

On Dec 10, in a forum marking Thailand's Constitution Day, Midnight University academics called for a new charter to replace the 2007 constitution after the general elections, saying the current charter will result in weak government and a new one is necessary for political reform.  They urged an overhaul of security laws including martial law and the internal security bill and the formulation of new laws that are more transparent, accountable and democratic.  And they also voiced support for social welfare policies that guarantee fundamental services including education and health, and policies of progressive tax, and land and inheritance taxes, instead of the populist platforms that are being pledged in the election campaign. 

However, Suthachai Yimprasert from Chulalongkorn University said that he preferred to have the 1997 Constitution reinstated instead.  Amendments of particular clauses would be better than writing a new one, as the country has had too many charters already.  And bringing back the 1997 charter would also be an act of denying the coup d'état.   

Attachak Satyanurak of Midnight University said that in the process of drafting the 1997 charter there were many compromises.  Now Thai society needs to think and come up with a new one with wider participation than the 1997 charter.  There have been many economic and social changes during the past 10 years. 

Dean of Chiang Mai University Law Faculty Somchai Preechasilpakun said that Thai politics is now extremely tense and polarized.  The Thai people should realize that in democracy differences are normal, and a coup d'état is in no way an option to solve political conflicts; therefore, any claim of disunity must never again be used to justify another coup after the general elections.   

An authoritarian state has been created after the Sept 19 coup and would be intensified with the passage of the controversial internal security bill, Somchai said.  The next government will face difficulties with increased military power.  Alternative initiatives to solve problems, such as a peaceful solution to the southern unrest, would become impossible. 

And the 2007 constitution is an attempt to bring Thai society back to the 1980s, despite the social changes since then, he said.  The current charter weakens political parties, and these would be made to be more dependent on the bureaucracy in addressing problems.  The next government would find it hard to formulate new policies. 

Suthachai said that everybody seemed to have come to the conclusion that a coup d'état is not a solution.  Many problems have resulted from the coup itself.  The bureaucracy that used to be an essential element in dictatorial regimes has now proved that it cannot solve problems. 

And the coup proved it could not destroy Thaksin. Thaksin has increasingly become a hero among his supporters.  A signal of compromise between Thaksin's faction and his foes that are ‘higher' than the Democrats has been sent.  The royal address on Dec 4 is an indicator of the direction of Thai politics; the King talked about unity.  All groups in the business sector agree that a showdown would only lead to disaster.  The economy is the deciding factor; they have to compromise for their own survival. 

"So the middle class would be betrayed as usual.  Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) would probably have to become monks like Sondhi Limthongkul," said Suthachai.  

He added that in the elections he did not have any candidates or political parties in mind to vote for, but he did have in mind those who he would not vote for; "any party that supported Article 7 [for a royally-appointed prime minister to replace Thaksin during the PAD's high point in 2006], or supported the coup."  He said we might dislike Thaksin, but we should not have to turn to undemocratic forces.  The problems with People Power Party leader Samak Sundaravej are not so serious as those with the coup. 

Prapart Pintobtang of Chulalongkorn's Political Science Faculty said that Thai politics was turning back to a ‘semi-democracy' with military and bureaucratic powers institutionalized in a complicated way by several laws including one that many have not recognized which is the Kamnan and Village Heads Act.  

He said that the planned protests by NGOs and the people on Dec 12 against the National Legislative Assembly to demand a halt of its readings of many bills might be more significant than the elections on Dec 23, because many bills pending NLA approval are very important and will affect the people's rights and freedoms.