"We should draft charter number 19 now because the 18th constitution will not last long and a political crisis will likely occur within a year," said Attachak Satyanurak, a lecturer in anthropology and political analyst from Chiang Mai University.

"They are giving power to the courts and in the end things will not be negotiable, because they will claim to be doing it in the name of the King and those criticising the court may be held for contempt of court," said Naruemon Tabchumpon, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

Attachak, who will vote against the 2007 charter, thinks the chances are that it will not pass the referendum. Even if it were passed, the newly empowered judiciary would push Thai society to the cliff because the judges would be subject to interference from other groups.

"It will lead to greater conflict within the bureaucracy," he said.

Attachak said that instead of the current junta-sponsored charter, a new constitution drafted by the people would pay attention to issues of community ownership in order to enable people to become more independent from the state.

Other speakers at a symposium at Chulalongkorn University argued that the

junta-appointed drafters neither understood democracy nor respected the rights of the people.

Prapas Pintobtaeng said the new charter was two-thirds democratic, but relied a lot on the power of judges associated with the institution of the monarchy.

Instead of passing power to the people, the charter hands  it to the judges in an unprecedented way, said human-rights lawyer Pairoj Polpetch. "The likelihood is that the bureaucracy will have an upper hand vis-à-vis elected politicians. The people, aside from having to fight against big businesses, will also have to face the bureaucratic system," he added.

Chulalongkorn economist Suthy Prasartsert said the charter would most definitely not be Thailand's last.

Many members of the Assembly of the Poor said they rejected the coup as it was not participatory.

Pravit Rojanaphruk,

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

The Nation