The King is the head of state.The King does not govern directly but appoints the Prime Minister and his cabinet,on whose advice, the king issues ordinances.The King commands the army, navy, and air forces.The king is an upholder of religions. H.M.King Bhumibol Adulyadej,the ·thKing of the Chakri Dynasty, was born on 5th Dec., 1927 in Cambridge, Massachusetts U.S.A., where His Majesty’s father,H.H.Prince Mahidol of Songkhla was studying medicine.Yellow color is the color attributed to Monday on which H.M. was born. Since ascended the throne in 1946, H.M. reigned for 55 years and has the longest reign among the kings of the Chakri Dynasty. H.M.and H.M.Queen Sirikit have three princesses and a prince. The King is assisted by privy council which is an advisory body for the monarch.

Tri-color flag was adopted as national flag by Rama · on July 22,1917 when the monarch decided to participate in the W.W.·..White, Blue, and Red symbolize religion,monarchy, and nation respectively.

On the basis of the New Constitutionpromulgated in Oct.1997, 200 members of the Senate were elected.By election taken place on Jan. 6th, 2001, 500 members of the House of the Representatives were chosen.The tenure of the members are 4 years for the both houses.

Justice:
District courts are held at provincial level.Civil and penal courts are held in Bangkok.The appeal court is the Higher Court in Bangkok, while the third judgement is heard at the Supreme Court.Besides these, there are Military Court and Bankrupcy Court.

Local Administration:
The governors of 76 provinces(Changwat) are appointed and executed by officers of the Ministry of Interior,except in Bangkok Metropolis where the governor is elected.Below provincial level, there are districts(Amphur), cities(Sukhaviban) and villages(Tambon). Recent trends in local administration is toward decentralization of power.