Abstract:
This study is aimed at analyzing the roles of thai Parliament in using the general debates on the no-confidence motion as a means to control the government, using events in the Chatichai and Chuan Governments as case study. It is a documentary research coupled with in-dept interviews The study has two assumption: First, the general debates on the no-confidence motion will be more or less effective, mainly depending on their congruency with the political situation and public sentiment. Second, the general debates on the no-confidence motion against individual Minister or the entire Council of Ministers in the Chatichai and the Chuan governments produce different effects The study finds that the no-confidence general debates against the Chatichai government and against the chuan government differ in their effectiveness. That is, the general debates against the Chatichai government are more effective than those against the Chuan government, The February 1991 military coup against the Chatichai government is partly caused by the general debates which exposed corruptions within the Chatichai administration.The study also finds that the effectiveness of the general debates on the no-confidence motion mainly depends on whether the charges the opposition made against the government are shared by the general public. In addition, the general debates to be the effective measure must contain the substance of public interest coupled with data well prepared by the opposition. It is also found out that the opposition should not too often use the general debates against the government