Hats Off to the Land of Siam

I have it on good authority that congrats are in order for Thailand, which next week gets its 13th (count 'em!!) new constitution since 1932. You know what they say, "If at first you don't succeed, and all that."




You gotta love it when one of your best pals lives in a country with Wikipedia entries like this one:

A military junta overthrew the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006. The junta abrogated the constitution, dissolved Parliament and the Constitutional Court, detained and later removed several members of the government, declared martial law, and appointed one of the King's Privy Councillors, General Surayud Chulanont, as Prime Minister. The junta later wrote a highly abbreviated interim constitution and appointed a panel to draft a permanent constitution. The junta also appointed a 250-member legislature, called by one critic a "chamber of generals". The head of the junta was allowed to remove the Prime Minister at any time. The legislature was not allowed to hold a vote of confidence against the Cabinet and the public was not allowed to file comments on bills.

You go, Thailand. Come to think of it, we could use a nice coup de tat around here right about now.