Thailand’s road to a new constitution comes to another turning point. Next week, on 10 – 11 December, parliament will debate a bill proposing amendments to the constitution that would open the door to setting up a Constituent Assembly.

But there have been obstacles along the way. The Constitutional Court, while ruling on the number of referendums that must take place to write a new constitution, noted that the direct election of a Constituent Assembly is prohibited.

While the government of Anutin Charnvirakul has said over and over that the first constitutional amendment referendum will take place during next year’s upcoming general election, it would appear that he is using the constitutional amendment process to shield himself from censure. Members of his Cabinet have previously implied that Anutin would dissolve parliament if a censure debate motion is filed, which could mean that all the work that has been put into the constitutional amendment bill would be wasted.

To push for a new constitution, the NGO Coordinating Committee on Development (NGO-COD) and its partner organizations called a 55-kilometre march from Ayutthaya to Bangkok. This Saturday (6 December), activists and civil society organizations will set out from Ayutthaya’s Wang Noi District. They are expected to arrive for a gathering at the parliament complex in Bangkok on 9 December, and will end the march at the Democracy Monument on 10 December, known as Constitution Day in Thailand.

Juthamat Srihattapadungkit, a member of NGO-COD, said that the activists are marching to focus real attention to constitutional amendments. She noted that civil society has been campaigning for constitutional amendments for a long time, but there was no clear direction or real hope. This year, she said, constitutional amendment is back on the public agenda, and NGO-COD believes it is necessary to speak out about why the country needs a constitution that would ensure a good quality of life for the people.

Given the political situation, Juthamat said she does not think there will be a new constitution soon, especially one written by an elected Constituent Assembly, and that the march is part of a long-term campaign to keep attention on the issue. She also said that she does not think the Anutin government is serious about amending the constitution, while obstacles like the Constitutional Court’s ruling show that those in power don’t want to return power to the people. Nevertheless, she said, it is important that civil society speak out.

Juthamat explained that the faults in the 2017 Constitution lead to limitations of human rights in other laws, as well as questionable rulings by the Constitutional Court, which has dissolved political parties, dismissed prime ministers, and interfered with the process of forming a Constituent Assembly. She said that because she does not believe the Bhumjaithai Party really wants to amend the constitution, the expectation is placed upon the next government. If civil society speaks out, then every political party would have to pay attention.

The potential censure debate does not affect the campaign, Juthamat said, while Anutin’s threats to dissolve parliament cements her belief that the current government does not really want to amend the constitution, otherwise Anutin would not be using it to protect himself from censure. She said that a censure debate should be called if necessary and amending the constitution should be a concern because there are many problems that the government is ignoring.

Juthamat would like a lot of people to join the march, especially in the final days when it reaches parliament and the Democracy Monument. People can also join the activities that will take place at the end of each day, such as at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus on 6 December.

She believes that people still see the problem and hope for constitutional amendment, but have not had the opportunity to get together. She hopes that the march will help bring attention to constitutional amendment.