Bangkok - A new Thai constitution being drafted by the ruling junta is a throwback to an era when a royalist and military elite had a stranglehold on politics, analysts and politicians say, warning of dire consequences for democracy.
In the legislative building that once used to house elected MPs, Paiboon Nititawan is one of a core group of military appointees charting Thailand's future.
A year ago the veteran conservative was giving rousing speeches to crowds of protesters clamouring for the toppling of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and a military takeover.
Thailand's generals did just that in May. And Paiboon, like many prominent establishment figures, was rewarded with a seat on the influential committee redrafting the kingdom's constitution.
"We have designed this constitution based on countering the problems of the last 10 years," Paiboon told AFP, a draft copy of the document on the table in front of him.
"Thai political parties are different to other countries'... they can be bought," he adds.
In the eyes of the country's elite, democratically elected politicians have ruined Thailand with populist policies and cronyism that lead the poor astray.
They long for what they regard as a golden era when parliament was overseen by unelected elders who kept such populism in check.
For many Thais the constitutional debate has a sense of deja vu. The charter has undergone more than a dozen rewrites in the last 80 years, either by democrats trying to consolidate parliamentary power or counter moves by the royalist elite to create a more pliant democracy.
The current junta led by former army chief-turned-premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha is aiming for the latter.
But they insist their reforms will finally end the political bickering and protests that have dogged what used to be one of Southeast Asia's most vibrant economies.
AFP
