Senate of Thailand

The Senate of Thailand ( Thai: วุฒิสภา ไทย, pronunciation: Wutthisapha Thai, literally: "Council of Elders of Thailand ") is the upper house of the National Assembly and thus the Thai legislature. In accordance with the Thai Constitution of 2007, the Senate is a nonpartisan legislative chamber. It consists of 150 senators, of which 76 directly elected and 74 are appointed by a committee. The Senate is working for a fixed term of six years.

History

With the Constitution of 1946, a Senate was formed on the model of the British House of Lords. This constitution was, however, abolished by a military coup as early as next year. The following constitutions saw only occasionally a bicameral ago, and even then the Senate always consisted of representatives from the military and the elite. Under the 1997 Constitution, a fully elected Senate was formed again. This constitution was abolished after the coup of 2006. Since then, the members of the Senate are elected and part appointed part.

Composition

The Senate is composed of 150 members. 76 senators are directly out of the 75 provinces ( Changwat ) and Bangkok elected, while the remaining 74 are appointed from different sectors of society by the Senate Selection Committee. This is composed of the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the Electoral Commission, the Ombudsman's Office, the National Korruptionsbekämpungs Commission, the Court of Auditors, and in each case a judge of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court. This selection committee will consider proposals from academic institutions, the public and the private sector, professional associations and other organizations. Since the Senate in turn is involved in the appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court, members of the Electoral Commission and the Ombudsman, there is a certain circularity in the relationship between these institutions.

All senators have no party affiliation be at least 40 years old and a university degree - at least a bachelor degree - possess. You may in the last five years before they have to get a seat in the Senate to apply any function in a political party and no government official had to. Relatives in the ascending line, spouses and children of members of parliament and political office holders are excluded from the election for Senator.

The chair has since August 2012 Nikom Wairatpanij, the directly elected senator of the province of Chachoengsao. He is ex officio the Vice President of the National Assembly.

Responsibilities

Among other things, the Senate is responsible in the last resort, to propose to the king, the five members of the Election Commission of Thailand.