In
praise of the Thai upper
house
- The Irrawaddy,
November 22, 2002
Before 1997, the Senate,
entirely appointed by
the Prime minister and
composed of retired military
and police officers, former
high ranking civil servants
and politically linked—and
sometimes shady—businessmen,
had always been a rubber
stamp house....
It has now come to
a point where the government
can no longer restrain
its irritation. Government
ministers have criticized
the senate for being too
active. Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra himself
said that the senate was
improperly behaving "like
the opposition"...
For all its energy, the
Thai Senate has more than
once given ground to powerful
political interests. Out
of a total of 200 senators,
a group of around 50 can
be classified as "progressive"
senators keen on defending
the common peoples interests.
A large group of 80 to
90 senators are former
provincial governors,
retired civil servants,
teachers and lawyers,
whose vote will switch
according to the issue
and who can be fairly
independent at times.
The rest is made up of
senators who are indirectly
linked to political parties,
either by prior membership
or family ties to MPs.
In praise of the Thai upper house
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