Thailand is governed by a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej acting as the Head of State.

Official power rests with the government, headed by the Prime Minister. Political power is distributed among members of the Parliament and bureaucratic system that reaches down to the village level. Thailand is governed by a system of centralization, with the Constitution as the highest law of the land.

Legislative power is vested in the Parliament, and exercised through a bicameral National Assembly consisting of the publicly-elected House of Representatives and the Senate. The Parliament must approve all legislative matters of national policy, which then require the King's signature before becoming the law of the land.

Judicial power is exercised through the Law Courts with three levels, namely the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. More infomation about Thailand's judiciary system can be found at the Office of the Judicial Affairs website.

Executive power is exercised through the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. Essentially, the Royal Thai Government is composed of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, which heads 15 major ministries.

These ministries are: Office of the Prime Minister; the Ministry of Finance ; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ; the Ministry of Defense; the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Transport and Communications; the Ministry of Commerce; the Ministry of Public Health; the Ministry of Science,Technology and Environment ; the Ministry of University Affairs; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare; the Ministry of Industry; and the largest and most powerful, the Interior Ministry, under whose auspices come a wide range of responsibilities, from provincial government to the police department, reaching down to the villages at the base of the pyramidal government structure.

The system of administration is centralized but divided into regional and provincial administrations. The city of Bangkok has its own administrative bodies and elects its own governor. Provincial administration is the responsibility of the Interior Ministry, which appoints a governor for each of Thailand's 76 provinces. Regional administration has its own regional electoral system governed by the administrative bodies.

For more Information on the Thai government, please visit www.thaigov.go.th

Political Development

The Constitution Court