The Next Phase of Thailand's Political Struggle

A new phase in Thailand's political standoff has begun. Last week, the ruling military junta released a long-awaited draft of the country's new constitution, slated for vote in a referendum in August. For more than a decade, centuries-old regional rivalries and political fractures have routinely paralyzed Thailand in a period of rising economic competition and immense regional change. Through it all, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been at the center of the country's unrest. But since the country's military assumed power in a May 2014 coup, politics in Thailand have effectively been put on pause. Now, as the junta prepares for a referendum on its draft charter later this year, political unrest may be on the horizon in Thailand....