The term is over for “Member of the Senate (Senate)” but still retains full power to consider and scrutinize laws control government administration and give advice or approval to those who will sit in the chairs of independent constitutional organizations until The new set of senators will continue to serve in the Upper House. If you look at the timeline as shown by the “Cabinet”, it has agreed that the Election Commission will issue a royal decree to select a new set of 200 senators using a new selection method. “It has never happened before in the history of Thai politics” to select among those with knowledge. Expertise, experience, profession, characteristics or common interests The application period is scheduled for May 13, 2024. Selection will begin. District level senators are selected on June 9, provincial level senators are selected on June 16, and national level senators are selected on June 26, before the Election Commission announces the results of the certification of the new senators. 200 new people in July 2024. The next one will be counted as an option. The most unusual new type of Senate. In this matter, Associate Professor Dr. Prajak Kongkeerati, Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, gave a lecture on looking behind and looking ahead to the Thai Senate. What should we do next? Now the whole world faces the game of the elite. “I don’t want the country to be democratic” but in this era it is difficult to stage a coup and must use a more subtle method. Therefore, in today’s world “Coup” is the beginning of the destruction of democracy. “It is not the end of democracy,” because when a coup is staged, it is often impossible to rule forever without elections. So what should we do? Like this, I want to think like a “game” if it’s the elite who doesn’t want the country to be democratic. but was squeezed by the current and world political values with democracy as the minimum criterion In the elite game, there are 3 strategies used to obstruct democracy. and destroy weak democracy: 1. Change the rules By drafting rules to give yourself an advantage. 2. Control the committee, not just the election management committee. But there are also various independent organizations that can bring in their own people to control democracy. Finally, point 3. Make the opposition of the elite weak. The easiest way is “Disband the opposition party.” Therefore, when there is an election, control of the election will be guaranteed leading to the victory of that election. If we look at the “Thai Senate” context, it is a jigsaw piece in the elite elite game. Connecting techniques for holding power together because changing the rules has already been written is difficult. For example, in the case of the 2017 Constitution, even though 100% of the MPs agree, if 1/3 of the Senators do not agree, they will prevent it from being changed. The rules are democratic. In addition, they have a duty to certify those who will sit in independent organizations. These independent organizations are an important tool that can weaken the “public sector and opposition parties”, with the Senate being the person to run those organizations. This is the overall situation that is happening around the world right now if you look back. “The history of Thai senators” somewhat reflects the volatility of Thai democracy. If compared to many countries, most senators come from elections based on the people. Just for “Thailand” almost throughout its history. The Senate serves to uphold authoritarian regimes more than it does to promote democracy. Starting with the “Coup d’etat of 1947” that caused Thai democracy to enter a vicious cycle. Since then, three points have been summarized: 1. Almost every Thai senator acts as a protector of an undemocratic regime. 2. The Senate also has a duty to maintain the political and economic order of the oligarchy of the minority elite. which is a large patronage network and 3. The Thai Senate is not designed to check the “government” but is an extension of the government. It serves to uphold the regime rather than to monitor it. “except for the 1997 Constitution” Therefore, I would like to conclude that “Thai Senate” is often an area that is used to create a patronage network of the elite. It may be time to fix it or not if we look at the small timeline for “The birth of democracy” in the period 1932-1946 was unicameral, then the “Senate” began to exist for the first time from indirect elections in 1946, which was an upper house called the “Phruttha Sabha” came to act as a mentor in The nascent stage of democracy “There was a coup d’état in 1947,” so this was the first time that there was Senators appointed when the era of the Thanom Kittikachorn government arrived. The appointed senators were able to choose the Prime Minister for the first time. and debate of no confidence in the government Including having the right to veto laws that MPs can propose that it be dropped. Therefore, whenever there is a coup, it is usually possible. Senator appointed Until reaching the turning point from “Black May 1992” where there was a trend and demand for political reform in that year. 1997 then brought about change. “All senators must come from the election” This is considered progress that people have the right to choose. Senator for the first time in 2000. And what came from “Election of the Senate.” The 1997 Constitution created many independent organizations and then the power of the people who would go to independent organizations must depend on the Senate until the power remains until today. Later in 2006, “a coup d’état” was redesigned as “Half each senator” comes from a portion of the election. and appoint some of them, most recently in 2017, the “NCPO” designed a bizarre system with an interim provision for the first 5 years for the NCPO to appoint all of them and giving the Senate the power to directly select the Prime Minister at “No one has ever dared to write such a thing,” causing the country to go backward even further than before. But the design of the “2017 Constitution” distorts the democratic mechanism. To preserve the undemocratic regime under the NCPO system after the 2014 coup and bring that process to inherit the power of the dictatorial system. “By designing a council of professional group representatives” without participation and adhere to the people which the elite can control “People are excluded” from having the right to choose. The Senate made this design have very little connection with the people. “Many Thais” hardly even know that they do not have a choice. Senators who were not elected when the people did not participate. “It is a quiet choice among a small group of people.” In the end, those with authority will pull them in as later. It reflects that the conservative elite still wants to preserve the Senate mechanism as a mechanism to sustain their power, even though “they themselves are not in office” they have already bequeathed it. The Senator is the keeper of that will according to political science theory. “If society is democratic,” the government and the legislature must be elected by the people to perform this duty. Because the more people participate in elections, the more democratic the society is. But according to the principles of totalitarian systems, they are usually designed to have the smallest group of people. “To choose the government and the legislature” and the selection of senators this time was designed like that. “Which is self-selection,” so the smaller the number of people participating, the less democratic the society will be. “Thailand” used to choose senators by occupational group in 2010. 2018 is also the “selection of the quietest senators in the world” in this matter, Deputy Secretary-General The Election Commission itself admitted from interviews with foreign media that The reason for being quiet is because he doesn’t want it to be in the news. But I want a small group of people. They chose among themselves in a quick manner, then the NCPO came and quietly picked 50 people in 10 occupational groups. At that time there were 7,210 applicants, such as Chumphon Province 16 people, Phang Nga Province 17 people, Singburi and Ranong Provinces 18 people. Bueng Kan Province, 23 people, using a budget of 1,300 million baht, finally had to give The NCPO came to choose again and wasted a lot of the country’s budget. Therefore, choosing The Senate that will arise depends on how many people apply. If 7,000 people apply, the “Senator” that is obtained will only represent 7,000 people. “Makes it not yet democratic,” but if there are 200,000 people applying, it will be more representative of the people. Therefore, when the game is like this, it is necessary to expand the circle of people participating as much as possible. Finally, the selection of Senator 2024 is important. If we get a representative of the Citizens’ Council who has a true democratic heart, it will be the starting point for reviving democracy. To change the game and change the rules Change the director Create a level playing field. “No one alone can destroy democracy,” and no one alone can restore democracy back to life either. “It must be everyone’s duty” to come out and help carry out this important mission. Click to read more in the column “Scoop Page 1”.
