The new body, which will be financed by a national political development fund, will have to be set up within a year of the new charter's promulgation. Its proponents argue that the majority of Thai people are still politically immature, so it's necessary to instil more democratic values via informal and non-formal education in the hope of lifting Thai democracy out of the vicious cycle of elections and coup d'etats.

The 2007 charter will be the 18th of Thailand's democratic era, which has also witnessed more than a dozen coups in the past seven decades. These are indicators of how the country's democracy has remained underdeveloped, largely due to the failure of our national education policy as well as certain Thai attributes.

In other words, the majority of voters, especially those in rural areas, still need to be educated about the pros and cons of the democratic system. They also need to be aware that some of their own attributes do not bode well for the future of democracy.

Constitution Drafting Committee member Komsan Podhikong said many rural and uneducated people still do not have a good understanding of how democracy works. As a result, their political thinking is often over-simplified, especially when it comes to exercising their voting and other constitutional rights.

These people also lack the capacity to visualise linkages between local and national politics, the absence of which could make or break the country.

In addition, he noted that the patronage culture remains firmly rooted in the countryside, which again does not bode well for democracy. Last but not least, many Thais look to "white knights" when the country is in trouble politically.

In this context, writing a better charter is not a guaranteed way of improving the practice of democracy. It will be more effective if there is a national body in charge of developing participatory democracy in the long run.

In fact, education is the basis for all spheres of national development - be it economic or social or political. Unfortunately, political development was excluded when the NESDB was founded in the early 1960s during the tenure of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who was then the country's military strongman and prime minister.

Even though nearly five decades have passed since, it's still not too late to start anew with the proposed national political development board.

Meanwhile, the first draft of 2007 charter consists of four major themes.

First is the further expansion of citizens' rights and liberties. For instance, communal rights are guaranteed to the extent that communities may sue local and central government agencies if any official projects or activities seriously damage the environment and their well-being.

Another example is that the government has to hold public hearings prior to entering into international treaties that will affect citizens, such as free trade agreements. And once the treaties are signed, details of these agreements must be disclosed to the public.

In addition, under Section 282 (1) of the first draft, citizens are empowered for the first time to seek amendments to the constitution with a minimum of 100,000 signatures in support.

Second, the draft charter imposes further curbs on state and government powers. For instance, the government will find it more difficult to issue executive decrees as a means of bypassing parliamentary scrutiny. Also, political parties will be banned from any mergers during their parliamentary term so as to prevent an unusually large majority in the House.

Third, public offices will be more transparent and accountable, as office holders will be subject to a clear-cut code of conduct and violations will lead to punishment and impeachment proceedings.

Fourth, opposition parties and independent bodies set up under the Constitution will be stronger so that they can serve as more effective checks and balances on the government. For instance, the judiciary will be mainly responsible for nominating candidates to independent bodies such as the Election Commission.

Another example is that the opposition requires the support if just one fourth of the members of Parliament to launch a no-confidence motion against the government - significantly less than the minimum requirement stipulated in the 1997 charter.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com