Preamble
May there be virtue. Today is the tenth day of the waxing moon in the fifth month of the year of the Rooster under the lunar calendar, being Thursday, the sixth day of April under the solar calendar, in the 2560th year of the Buddhist Era.
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun is graciously pleased to proclaim that the Prime Minister has respectfully informed that since Phrabat Somdet Phra Paramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pokklao Chaoyuhua graciously granted the Constitution of the Kingdom of Siam, B.E. 2475 (1932), Thailand has continuously and always maintained the intention to adhere to a democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State. Even though Constitutions have been annulled, amended and promulgated on several occasions to suitably reorganise governance, there was still no stability or order due to various problems and conflicts. At times, those events degenerated into Constitutional crises which cannot be resolved. This was partially caused by there being persons ignoring or disobeying governance rules of the country, being corrupt and fraudulent, abusing power, and lacking a sense of responsibility towards the nation and the people, resulting in the ineffective enforcement of law. It is, therefore, necessary to prevent and rectify these matters by reforming education and law enforcement, and strengthening the system of merits and ethics. Other causes are governance rules which are inappropriate to the situation of the country and the times, the prioritisation of forms and procedures over basic principles of democracy, or the failure to effectively apply, during the crises, existing rules to individuals’ behaviours and situations, the forms and procedures of which differ from those of the past.
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014) Amendment (No. 1), B.E. 2558 (2015) accordingly provides that there shall be a Constitution Drafting Committee to draft a Constitution to be used as the principle of governance and as a guide for preparing organic laws and other laws by prescribing new mechanisms to reform and strengthen the governance of the country. This is to be carried out by: appropriately restructuring the duties and powers of organs under the Constitution and the relationship between the legislative and executive branches; enabling Court institutions and other Independent Organs that have duties to scrutinise the exercise of State powers to perform their duties efficiently, honestly and equitably, and to participate in preventing or solving national crises, as necessary and appropriate; guaranteeing, safeguarding and protecting Thai people’s rights and liberties more clearly and inclusively by holding that the Thai people’s rights and liberties are the principle, while the restriction and limitation thereon are exceptions, provided that the exercise of such rights and liberties must be subject to the rules for protecting the public; prescribing the duties of the State towards people, as well as requiring the people to have duties towards the State; establishing strict and absolute mechanisms to prevent, examine and eliminate dishonest act and wrongful conduct to prevent executives who lack moral virtue, ethics and good governance from ruling the country or using power arbitrarily; prescribing measures to prevent and manage crises in the country more efficiently; and, prescribing other mechanisms in accordance with the direction specified by the Constitution of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014). These are to be used as a framework for developing the country, in line with the directive principles of State policies and the National Strategy, from which each Administration shall prescribe the appropriate policies and implementation. Additionally, this establishes mechanisms to work together to reform the country in various aspects that are important and necessary, as well as to reduce the causes of conflict, so that the country can be at peace on the basis of unity and solidarity. The successful implementation of these matters demands cooperation among the people from all parts and all agencies of the State, in accordance with the direction of the Civil State, pursuant to the rules under the principles of a democratic regime of government and constitutional conventions that are suited to the situation and the nature of Thai society, the principles of good faith, human rights and good governance. This will in turn drive the country to progressively develop to become stable, prosperous and sustainable, politically, economically and socially, under the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.
Pursuant to the foregoing undertakings, the Constitution Drafting Committee has periodically imparted knowledge and understanding to the people of the principles and rationale of provisions of the Draft Constitution, has provided the people opportunities to widely access to the Draft Constitution and its meaning through different media, and has involved the people in the development of the essence of the Draft Constitution through receiving recommendations on possible revisions. Once the preparation of the Draft Constitution was complete, copies of the Draft Constitution and a brief primer were disseminated in a way which allowed the people to easily and generally understand the main provisions of the Draft Constitution, and a referendum was arranged to approve the entire Draft Constitution. In this regard, the National Legislative Assembly also passed a resolution introducing one additional issue to be put to vote in referendum on the same occasion. The outcome of the referendum was such that people having the right to vote, by a majority of votes of the people voting in the referendum, approved such Draft Constitution and additional issue. The Constitution Drafting Committee accordingly revised the relevant parts of the Draft Constitution to be in accordance with the outcome pertaining to the additional issue of the referendum, and referred the revision to the Constitutional Court for consideration as to whether it is in conformity with the outcome of the referendum. The Constitutional Court thereafter rendered a decision for the Constitution Drafting Committee to partially revise the texts. The Constitution Drafting Committee has made a revision according to the decision of the Constitutional Court. Accordingly, the Prime Minister respectfully presented the Draft Constitution to the King. Thereafter, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 Amendment (No. 4), B.E. 2560 (2017) provides that the Prime Minister may respectfully ask for the return of that Draft Constitution from the King to make an amendment thereto on certain issues. After the amendment is complete, the Prime Minister thereby respectfully presented the Draft Constitution to the King for signature and subsequent promulgation as the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, and the King deemed it expedient to grant His Royal assent.
Be it, therefore, commanded by the King that the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand be promulgated to replace, as from the date of its promulgation, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim), B.E. 2557 (2014) promulgated on the 22nd July B.E. 2557.
May all Thai people unite in observing, protecting and upholding the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand in order to maintain the democratic regime of government and the sovereign power derived from the Thai people, and to bring about happiness, prosperity and dignity to His Majesty’s subjects throughout the Kingdom according to the will of His Majesty in every respect.
