The House of Representatives (, , ) is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The system of the Thai legislative branch is modelled after the Westminster system. The House of Representatives has 500 members, of which 400 are elected through single member constituency elections, while the other 100 are chosen through party lists parallel voting.
The House of Representatives was temporarily abolished as a result of the 2014 Thai coup d'état and replaced with the unicameral National Legislative Assembly, a body of 250 members, selected by the National Council for Peace and Order. After the 2017 Constitution was promulgated in April 2017, the House of Representatives was reestablished.
Role
Bill consideration
The Cabinet, no less than 20 members of parliament, or 10,000 eligible voters through a petition may introduce a bill. However, if it is a money bill (a bill that has provisions concerning taxes, budgetary affairs or currency), it may be introduced only with the endorsement of the Prime Minister.
Where a bill's status as a money bill may be in question, a session between the speaker and all house committee chairs maybe convened to consider the status of the bill. The decision is made by a simple majority vote. If the vote is tied, the speaker must cast a tie-breaking vote.
When the process of consideration ends in the House and the bill is agreed to, the bill is sent to the senate for further deliberations; of which the process must be done within 60 days. The deadline for money bills is 30 days. If the senate is not able to deliberate within the time limit, the bill is considered to be agreed to by the senate.
If the bill is agreed to by the whole of the National Assembly, the prime minister must wait 5 days in order to give people the opportunity to challenge the bill's constitutionality. After which, the prime minister has 20 days to present the bill to the monarch for royal assent.
Any emergency act passed by the cabinet must be sent to the house for consideration without delay to be examined. If the house approves of the emergency act, it becomes an ordinary act. If not, the emergency act ceases to have effect after the decision has been published in the government gazette for one day.
Budget consideration
The 2017 Thai Constitution stipulates that the budget must be written in the form of an act, and in the introduction of a budget bill the government must show sources of income and estimates of further income, standards and measures of outcome and relevance to the 20 Year National Strategy and other national development plans. The budget must also adhere to guidelines outlined in the State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines Act.
The process of considering the budget is almost the same as considering a bill, although the deliberation deadline is extended to 105 days, and the senate is not able to amend the budget and must vote on it within 20 days.
Scrutiny of the government
Questioning a minister
A member of parliament may submit a question to a minister both in writing and orally. Questions to a minister may be asked without the question being submitted in advance. A minister may refuse to answer the question if the answer would risk national security or if they consider it not to be in the national interest.
Ministers assigning civil servants or other people to answer in their place is commonplace practice rather than the exception.
Motion of no confidence
No less than one fifth of all the members of parliament may introduce a motion to debate about a vote of no confidence in individual ministers or the entire cabinet. A simple majority is required for the motion to pass, and subsequently for the minister or the entire cabinet to cease.
Creation of committees
Committees may be set up by the house to carry out affairs or investigate matters, or to study matters and report to the house according to a set time frame. A minister may be held accountable to the committee, and it is within their duty to aid the committee in the course of an investigation or to find facts by ordering civil servants within their ministry for them to testify in the committee or to comply with information requests.
Considering prime ministerial candidates
In order for a candidate to stand, they must receive at least one tenth of the house's vote and must be named in the party list.