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The
Armed Forces
The
Thai Armed Forced are divided into three branches: the Royal
Thai Army (RTA), Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and Royal Thai Air Force
(RTAF). The Thai soldiers are composed of professional cover
soldiers and those recruited by conscription. Every male aged
twenty is subject to two years military service. Students are
allowed deferments until they have graduated.
The
King is Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Armed Forced and
the Cabinet is the instrument through which national security
policy is formulated. A National Security Council, composed of a
number of ministers, is charged with coordinating the
maintenance of national security.
The
Defence Ministry coordinates administration of the armed forces.
The expenditures of the Defense Ministry are among the greatest
of any ministry, absorbing a large proportion of the total
national budget. Thailand's fighting forces are governed by the
Supreme Command Headquarters which is staffed by leaders of the
Army, Navy and Air Force. Organized into divisions and combat
regiments, the Royal Thai Army is divided into four army regions
in accordance with regional geography ; the First Army Region
protects the Bangkok Metropolis and its surrounding provinces,
the Second protects the Northeast, the Third protects the
country's northern region and the Fourth the southern
extremities.
Thailand's
naval fleet, though small, has always given a good account of
itself. It operates primarily out of the sprawling, modern naval
station at Sattahip, southeast of Bangkok. The Royal Navy has a
marine corps, modeled on the American pattern, skilled in both
amphibious and jungle operations.
The
Royal Thai Air Force has its main base at Don Muang airport,
adjacent to Bangkok's International Airport. The RTAF also has
large air fields and facilities at Nakon Ratchasima Ubon
Ratchathani, Udon Thani and Takhli.
Judiciary
and Justice Administration
Founded
upon the concept of a civil law system, Thai justice
administration as well as its machinery is organized through
written legislation. All case proceedings, law execution and
justice safeguarding must solemnly conform to the laws
promulgated, including all governmental rules and decrees.
According
to the Law Governing Court Organization of 1934, three level of
courts were established, i.e., the Courts of First Instance, the
Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court. There are about 135
Courts of First Instance throughout the kingdom. In Bangkok
Metropolis, they are composed of the Civil Court, the Criminal
Court, the Central Juvenile Court, including Kwaeng Courts which
have jurisdiction over small cases. In the provinces, they are
composed of the Provincial Courts, the Provincial Juvenile
Courts and Kwaeng Courts.
The
Courts of Appeal, consist of one Bangkok-based Court of Appeal
and three Regional Courts of Appeal. There is one Supreme Court
with jurisdiction to review and adjudicate all case, and the
Court's judgments are final. However, in criminal cases the
accused may petition His Majesty the King for clemency.
Democracy
and Thailand
The
changes brought about by the successive monarchs and by the 1932
introduction of democracy and constitutional monarchy took a
long time to gain the attention of the majority of the citizenry,
as the Kingdom encompassed such a vast area with millions of its
population living in the countryside. To the majority of the
Thais, the changes in the capital, where royal countries in the
administration were replaced by a new power structure comprising
civil service officials and military officers, meant relatively
little. Their basic life style was not affected. Successive
shifts in power that followed did not cause a great change in
the placid surface of their daily life. |
