A referendum on the new constitution

2007 Constitution of Thailand

A Permanent Constitution for the Kingdom of Thailand was drafted by a committee established by the military junta that abrogated the previous 1997 Constitution. On August 19, 2007, a referendum was held in which 59.3% of the voters voted in favor of the constitution...

was held in Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

on 19 August 2007. Had the draft been rejected, the military government would have had the freedom to choose any previous constitution to adapt and promulgate instead. Turnout was around 60%.

Major changes in the proposed constitution included:

• Making almost half of Senators appointed rather than elected.
• Limiting the Prime Minister to two four year terms.
• Banning the Prime Minister from major holdings in private companies.
• Making it easier to impeach the Prime Minister and Ministers.

The current military government had announced that each household in the country would be sent a copy of the new constitution ahead of the referendum. A poll from July had seen a majority of voters in favour.

Results

Exit polls had suggested that 70% of people had voted for the constitution.

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	14,727,306	56.69%
No	10,747,441	41.37%

Source: Election Commission of Thailand