The 2024 Selection of Senators: Unsettled Concepts and Practices

Abstract

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2560 aims to create a new generation of senators who represent various career groups, act as coordinators among these groups and social classes, maintain political neutrality, and avoid affiliation with any political party. To achieve these goals, the Constitution revised relevant legal provisions by lowering candidate qualifications and changing the selection method—allowing candidates to elect senators from among themselves. However, it did not revise the roles of senators in legislative review, government oversight, or the approval of high-ranking officials in independent bodies, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, and other entities as prescribed by law.

As a result, the qualifications of some senators selected in 2024 do not align with their duties and responsibilities in the position. Furthermore, the Election Commission's failure to effectively prevent and suppress violations of the senatorial selection law has allowed a political party to manipulate the process by hiring local individuals to register as candidates who would, in turn, vote for the party's nominees. Through such manipulation, the political party secured three-fourths of the Senate seats and is now effectively gaining full control of the chamber.