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Thailand MILITARY RULE AND LIMITED PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT, 1976- 83
With the support of the king and the military membership of
NARC, a new government was formed under the prime ministership of
Thanin Kraivichien, a former Supreme Court justice who had a
reputation for honesty and integrity. Though a civilian, Thanin
was a passionate anticommunist and established a regime that was
in many ways more repressive than those of earlier military
strongmen. He imposed strict censorship, placed unions under
tight controls, and carried out anticommunist purges of the civil
service and education institutions. Student leaders, driven
underground by the October 1976 violence, left urban areas to
join the communist insurgency in the provinces. As a result of
his harsh rule and a growing feeling within the political elite
that university students, themselves members of the privileged
classes, had been poorly treated, Thanin was replaced in October
1977 by General Kriangsak Chomanand.
Kriangsak was more conciliatory than his civilian predecessor
and promised a new constitution and elections by 1979. He courted
moderate union leaders, raising the minimum daily wage in the
Bangkok area in 1978 and again in 1979. He allowed limited press
freedom, and he gave verbal support to the idea of land reform,
though no action in this area was forthcoming. In September 1978,
he issued an amnesty for the "Bangkok 18" dissidents who had been
arrested in the October 1976 violence and tried by military
courts.
A new constitution was promulgated in December 1978. The 1978
Constitution established a bicameral legislature, the National
Assembly, consisting of the popularly elected House of
Representatives (301 members) and the appointed Senate (225
members). The military controlled appointment to the Senate, and
it could block House of Representatives initiatives in important
areas such as national security, the economy, the budget, and
votes of no confidence. The 1978 document also stipulated that
the prime minister and cabinet ministers did not have to be
popularly elected. When elections were held on schedule in April
1979, moderate rightist parties--the Social Action Party, the
Thai Citizens' Party, and the Chart Thai (Thai Nation) Party--won
the largest number of seats, whereas the Democrats lost most of
their seats.
Further changes came during 1979 and 1980, however, as
economic conditions deteriorated in the wake of the second oil
crisis. Uncontrolled inflation caused the standard of living to
fall in urban areas, especially Bangkok, while government
dilatoriness and corruption in the villages stalled policies
designed to help the farmers. In February 1980, the Kriangsak
government announced sudden increases in the prices of oil, gas,
and electricity. This action provoked opposition from elected
politicians and demonstrations similar to those of 1973 by
students and workers. As opposition grew, Kriangsak resigned. In
March 1980, General Prem Tinsulanonda, who had been army
commander in chief and defense minister, became prime minister
with the support of younger officers of the armed forces and
civilian political leaders.
Data as of September 1987
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