TFF - in brief:
Thailand. Until 1932 it had an absolute monarchy. Since that time, it's been a constitutional monarchy accompanied by a series of military governments (the previous king 'shot himself by accident' in 1946). From 1980 (with some minor interruptions) there's been democracy of a sort, until last September. Then the military took the tanks into Bangkok in a 'bloodless' coup. Out went democracy. The constitution was torn up. Twelve political parties were abolished, including the one elected by a landslide majority. Half of the country is still under martial law, but elections are planned for late this year. Needless to say, there aren't many parties left to vote for.
Off topic entirely, except that someone posted an item on youtube.com that the regime considered offensive to the king - youtube.com is now excommunicated!
