This will be Thai 17 th constitution since 1930's,average every
5 years
one new constitution.
coup history of Thailand
below quote fr BBC
1947 - Military coup by the wartime, pro-Japanese leader Phibun
Songkhram. The military retain power until 1973.
1965 onwards - Thailand permits US to use bases there during the
Vietnam War. Thai troops fight in South Vietnam. Short-lived
civilian rule
1973 - Student riots in Bangkok bring about the fall of the
military government. Free elections are held but the resulting
governments lack stability.
Classical dance is inspired by ancient myths, religious tales
1976 - Military takes over again.
1978 - New constitution promulgated.
1980 - General Prem Tinsulanonda assumes power.
1983 - Prem gives up his military position and heads a civilian
government. He is re-elected in 1986.
1988 - General Chatichai Choonhaven replaces Prem after
elections.
1991 - Military coup, the 17th since 1932. A civilian, Anand
Panyarachun, is installed as prime minister.
Golden figure guards Temple of Emerald Buddha, Bangkok
2000: Boom in Buddhist websites
BBC Religion & Ethics: Buddhism
1992 - New elections in March replace Anand with General Suchinda
Kraprayoon. There are demonstrations against him, forcing him to
resign. Anand is re-instated temporarily. Elections in September
see Chuan Leekpai, leader of the Democratic Party, chosen as prime
minister.
(lion's note:50 dead during crash )
1995 - Government collapses. Banharn Silpa-archa, of the Thai
Nation party, elected prime minister.
1996 - Banharn's government resigns, accused of corruption.
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh of the New Aspiration party wins
elections.
Financial turmoil
1997 - Asian financial crisis: The baht falls sharply against the
dollar, leading to bankruptcies and unemployment. The IMF steps in.
Chuan Leekpai becomes prime minister.
1998 - Tens of thousands of migrant workers are sent back to their
countries of origin. Chuan involves the opposition in his
government in order to push through economic reforms.
1999 - Economy begins to pick up again. Thai media highlight high
cost of drug treatments for Aids and HIV. Thailand begins to
pressurise drugs companies to find ways to make the drugs
cheaper.
2001 January - Elections won by Thaksin Shinawatra of new Thai Love
Thai party. Allegations of vote-buying force partial re-run of
poll. Thaksin forms coalition government.
2001 March - A plane Thaksin is due to board explodes. Police say a
bomb is to blame.
2001 June - Prime Minister Thaksin visits Burma to discuss drugs
and border tensions. He says relations are now back on track.
Within days the Mae Sai-Tachilek border crossing is opened again
after clashes between Thai and Burmese troops in February.
2001 August - Thaksin is cleared of assets concealment. A
conviction by the Thai Constitutional Court could have meant a
five-year ban from politics.
2002 May - Burma closes border with Thailand after Thai army fires
shells into Burma during battle between Burmese army and ethnic
Shan rebels. Border reopens in October.
Temple row
2003 January - Serious diplomatic upset with Cambodia over comments
attributed to a Thai actress that Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple
complex was stolen from Thailand. Angry crowds attack the Thai
embassy in the Cambodian capital. More than 500 Thai nationals are
evacuated.
Thousands were killed in controversial anti-drug drive
2003: Thai PM hails drug war success
2003: Thailand's bloody drugs war
Inter-religious violence plagues the mainly-Muslim south
2004: Thailand's restive south
2004: In pictures - Daily life in southern Thailand
2003 February - Controversial crackdown on drugs starts; more than
2,000 suspects are killed by late April. The government blames many
killings on criminal gangs; rights groups say extra-judicial
killings were encouraged by the authorities.
2004 January-March - More than 100 are killed in a wave of attacks
in the largely-Muslim south. The government blames Islamic
militants. Martial law is imposed.
2004 April - More than 100 suspected Islamic insurgents are killed
after launching coordinated dawn attacks on police bases in the
south.
2004 October - 85 Muslim protesters die, many from suffocation,
while in army custody following violence at a rally in the south.
An enquiry concludes that they were not killed deliberately.
Tsunami
2004 December - Thousands of people are killed when massive waves,
caused by a powerful undersea earthquake off the Indonesian coast,
devastate communities on the western coast of southern Thailand,
including the resort of Phuket.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej - the world's longest-reigning
monarch
2006: Thailand marks king's anniversary
Life in pictures: Thailand's king
2005 March - Thaksin Shinawatra begins a second term as PM after
his party wins February's elections by a landslide.
2005 July - As violent unrest continues in the south, Prime
Minister Thaksin is given new powers to counter suspected Muslim
militants in the region. In November the death toll in violence
since January 2004 tops 1,000.
2005 October - Thailand redoubles efforts to fight bird flu as
fresh outbreaks of the disease are reported.
2006 April-May - Snap election, called by the PM amid mass rallies
against him, is boycotted by the opposition and is subsequently
annulled, leaving a political vacuum. The PM takes a seven-week
break from politics.
2006 August - Prime Minister Shinawatra accuses several army
officers of plotting to kill him after police find a car containing
bomb-making materials near his house.
2006 September - Six simultaneous motorcycle bombs kill three
people and wound more than 60 on a busy street in the southern town
of Hat Yai.
2006 19 September - Military leaders stage a bloodless coup while
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is at the UN General
Assembly.
