Thailand remains Southeast Asia's sick man and the bad news is, its condition is getting worse. Domestically, a military-drafted constitution has been rejected by a majority of lawmakers — ironically all of whom were appointed by the junta. It remains to be seen if the failed constitution was indeed a ploy by the military government to stay in power longer by deliberately starting the process to draft a constitution all over again.
The version of the constitution to be drafted in the near future by the military junta, no matter how it looks, will determine the Thai political landscape for years to come. This is particularly important now that Thailand is approaching the end of King Bhumibol Adulyadel's reign. Key figures in the military and the old establishment are determined to preserve their positions of power during this critical royal transitional period and are therefore obliged to design a constitution aimed at keeping future civilian governments weak, rather than empowering them.
Certainly, the future constitution and the royal transition will further destabilize the Thai state. But in the past few weeks, an added tragedy has shaken the nation. On Aug. 17, a bomb exploded near a Hindu shrine in the crowded Rachaprasong intersection in Bangkok, killing 20 people and injuring more than 100. Immediately, the junta's spokesperson announced that some political opposition groups might have been behind the terrorist act. This opened the door for the public to play along with rumors of whether former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra could have been involved in it in some ways. Thaksin was overthrown in a coup in 2006 and has since lived in exile in Dubai.