10
Constitutionalism in Burma, Cambodia and Thailand
Developments in the first decade of the twenty-first century
Kevin Y.L. Tan
This chapter considers the state of constitutionalism and of constitutional law in
three Southeast Asian states: Burma, Cambodia and Thailand. In the first decade
of the twenty-first century, Burma promulgated a new and heavily criticised consti-
tution, while Thailand discarded yet another constitution amidst much civil unrest
and political turmoil. In working through its 1993 constitution, Cambodia con-
tinues to struggle with basic rule-of-law issues. Each state adopts different notions of
constitutionalism and unique processes of constitution-making. This chapter goes
beyond the text of these constitutional orders and the political debates in seeking
to understand the place of constitutionalism and constitutional law in the national
life of these states.
i. introduction
Burma, Cambodia and Thailand are the only non-communist states in mainland
Southeast Asia. And while Burma and Cambodia were formerly colonies, Thailand
is the only state in modern Southeast Asia that has never been colonised. For the
purposes of this chapter, I use ‘Burma’ rather than ‘Myanmar’, which is the
name the military junta adopted in 1989 on grounds that it was a more ethnically
accurate name. One thing these three countries share in their struggle with
constitutionalism is that efforts in constitution-making and remaking have occurred
against a backdrop of military dominance and the absence of a constitutional
culture. In this overview chapter, I consider the different trajectories and
approaches taken by these states and consider the factors that continue to under-
mine the constitutional processes. Although the object is to understand consti-
tutional development in these three states in the twenty-first century, it is necessary
to situate such developments in light of the ongoing transitions of the previous
century. Thus, I will detail the developments in each country via a historical-
chronicle approach and draw conclusions from these developments.