The Monarchy of Thailand
Thailand is a monarchy. The power of the king is limited; however he’s not merely a figurehead. The king is the official head of the Thai army, has the power of pardon and many other non-symbolic means of authority. Although the executive power remains within the domain of the government, Thailand is not a democracy in any sense of the word. The current situation (2011) is complicated and unclear—the lack of clarity being quite common in Thailand as a whole. It’s a mix of a constitutional monarchy, a dictatorship, and a plutocracy.