What city in Thailand has the best weather?

[Noistar]

The House-Senate meeting on Saturday approved the charter-amendment bill, which will change the Senate to an all-elected chamber and remove appointed senators.

This is amazing! A step in the right direction in my opinion. People who make laws should represent the people. Congratulations Thailand! (if it gets approved)

Small minds! The danger of little knowledge.

Totally agree!

Appears to be an assumption that an elected person represents 'the people'. I think you'll find that an elected person is the candidate with the most votes. Doesn't seem to be much benefit to the people with that definition. It's what the elected representative does which counts. Do the actions of all the elected PT representatives, represent their electorate or PT?

There is the classic, public, statement by the PT government that there will be no major investment in some areas, until the electorate 'democratically elect' a 'representative' of the current government. This is elected democracy in action.

What examples are there of the current upper-house attempting to dictatorise Thailand?

The lower-house proposes new laws, all the upper-house does is vet them.

Presumably non-contentious laws sail through, it's just the potentially damaging ones which are challenged.

We seem to have, like the 'reconciliation' Bill, a lot of time and effort being spent on fixing something which isn't broken.

Naturally there is a cost. The cost of not doing something for the benefit of Thailand's people and the country.

If PT spent less time fiddling with the mechanism of government and more time governing for the people, we'd have automatic, non-legislated reconciliation.

Mind you, it all masks the elephant in the room - the glorious return of KT

[Noistar]

The House-Senate meeting on Saturday approved the charter-amendment bill, which will change the Senate to an all-elected chamber and remove appointed senators.

This is amazing! A step in the right direction in my opinion. People who make laws should represent the people. Congratulations Thailand! (if it gets approved)

But it does not explain just who will "elect" this new style senate... It certainly will NOT be the common peoples.. and if its is voted by MPs, the party with the majority will win out.. That scenario does not sound like democracy to me... Pull you head out of the toilet Richard and start thinking... TiT... PTP is not trying to make this change for "the good of the nation" But for the good of one family and their merry men... Its all about the money..! Coup seen heading this way .. and its not a Porche Coup... eh..?

Not sure I understand why you don't think the common people will elect them. However, since the senate in Thailand is quite different than the senate I'm use to in the USA, perhaps others have misconceptions as well.

For example, according to Aj. Wiki, in 2007, only half of the senate was elected while the others were appointed. Since the senate was first created in 1947, there had not been 1 person elected by the common people of Thailand. So in 2007 half were elected. Now it's 6 years later and there is a proposal to elect 100% of the members of the senate.

I think this is a good move for Thailand.

As long as there is difference between the electoral systems, it may have some mileage.

First-past-the-post and proportional representation for instance.

What about a mechanism to ensure that the upper-house has to actually do some work, by ensuring there is no outright majority to give an automatic nod?

The theory is great, but as with all things Thai, it needs to be defended against itself.

Why is there such a priority to change the set-up now? Perhaps the answer might challenge the ultra-simplistic posts of 'democratically elected upper houses are the next best thing to utopia'.

Never forget we're talking about Thailand, where honesty and responsibility are words, not actions.

[marcusd]

What if there is no royal endorsement - has that ever happened?

That would be a constitutional conundrum. Presumably they constitutional court should know what to do.....

silly buses kin kaew...

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