Privy Council of Thailand

The Privy Council of Thailand (Thai: คณะองคมนตรีไทย, khana ongkhamontri thai) is a body of appointed advisors to the Monarch of Thailand. The council, as the Constitution of Thailand stipulates, must be composed of no more than eighteen members. The council is led by the president of the Privy Council of Thailand; currently former Prime Minister, "national statesman", and Army General Prem Tinsulanonda. The king alone appoints all members of the council. The council's offices are in the Privy Council Chambers, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok.

In recent years the council and its president in particular, have been accused of interfering in politics. This stems from the council's closeness to the military, in particular during the 2006 Thai coup d'état. General Prem was reappointed President of the privy council by the new King Maha Vajiralongkorn on 2 December 2016.

The first privy council in Siam was established by a royal decree on 8 May 1874, by King Chulalongkorn (or Rama V). The king, educated by Westerners, was keen on copying the system of government of the absolute monarchs of Europe. At first he created two councils: the "Privy Council of Siam" (Thai: ที่ปฤกษาในพระองค์, thi prueksa nai phra ong) (49 members) and the "Council of State" (Thai: สภาที่ปรึกษาราชการแผ่นดิน, sapha thi prueksa ratchakan phaendin) (12 members, name later changed to "Council of Ministers" (Thai: รัฐมนตรีสภา, ratthamontrisapha)). The privy council was created to deal with legislative affairs while the latter became an early version of the cabinet.

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