The military drafted Constitution passed in the referendum in 2016 and implemented in 2017 is set to break the record of being the longest serving constitution since the 1960s given the current parliamentary quagmire.

Over the past 92 years since Thailand’s transition to constitutional monarchy, the country has had 20 constitutions, and a quick math would show the average lifespan of each of these constitutions at about 4.6 years.

The 2017 Constitution (as it is officially called) is extremely difficult to amend, and that is by design. Nicknamed the “Containment Constitution” by Allen Hicken — as he wrote in a New Mandala piece in 2016, the constitution was written to “contain vile and venal politicians, much as you would an infectious disease” — the constitution now feels like it has been placed in a secure lock with the key hidden away at the end of a complex obstacle course. 

Pheu Thai, try as they might, has yet been unable to find the key. Although the party included constitutional reform as one of their pressing policy priorities in the run-up to the 2023 general election, calling it “a legacy of dictatorship” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s administration now seems just as lost as her predecessor in trying to find a way to make constitutional amendment happen.

Click here to read the full piece at Thai Enquirer.