1946 Constitution
After the end of the World War II, the collaborationist leadership (including Marshal Plaek) was arrested and tried for war crimes, democratic elections for the entire People's Assembly were first held, and the young King Ananda Mahidol returned to Thailand for the first time in 7 years. King Ananda Mahidol had just come of age, turning 20 in September 1945, and returned with his mother and Prince Bhumibol in December 1945.
A new constitution, Thailand’s most democratic to date, was drafted in his honor. Pridi Banomyong called it the constitution that gave the Thai people the most complete democratic rights. One key difference with previous constitutions was that the House of Representatives would, for the first time, be fully elected by the people (176 members). A Senate (80 members) was also established, which would, unlike the British House of Lords, be elected by the House for 6 year terms. In addition, active civil servants and soldiers were banned from serving in the Parliament or Cabinet, thus reducing the power of the military. A ban on senior princes from participating in electoral politics was repealed, thus precluding only the King and four other people from politics.
The Constitution was promulgated in 9 May 1946. One month later, in 9 June 1946, the King was found shot to death. His death was soon followed by a military uprising in 8 November 1947 that abrogated the 1946 constitution.
Read more about this topic: Constitution Of Thailand
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“The United States Constitution has proved itself the most marvelously elastic compilation of rules of government ever written.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)