Anand Panyarachun

Anand finally submitted the NRC's recommendations on 5 June 2006. Among them were

Anand supported the 2006 military coup that abrogated the People's Constitution and overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Anand had been a sharp critic of Thaksin for several years prior to the coup, and he blamed the coup on Thaksin. He also stated fears that the military junta would fail and that Thaksin could make a comeback. "When the [Chatichai] government disappeared from the scene [after the 1991 coup] there was no fear it could make a comeback. But over the past five years Thaksin and his party have become too powerful. They have consolidated their hold over the government machinery and certain sectors of the armed forces and parliament. So I think it's a more precarious situation." Anand claimed that the coup was well received by the people and that the military junta's ban against opposition or political activity would not last long. He also noted surprise at the international community's condemnation to the coup.

From March 2005, Anand served as chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), tasked with overseeing that peace was restored to the troubled south. A fierce critic of the Thaksin government, Anand frequently criticised his handling of the southern unrest, and in particular the State of Emergency Decree. He has been quoted to have said, "The authorities have worked inefficiently. They have arrested innocent people instead of the real culprits, leading to mistrust among locals. So, giving them broader power may lead to increased violence and eventually a real crisis." Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated from 2005 to 2006, with escalating violence, especially among teachers and civilians. Despite much criticism of the Thaksin-government's policies, Anand refused to submit the NRC's final report, choosing instead to wait for the results of the 2006 legislative election.

In 1996, Anand was elected as a member of the Constitution Drafting Assembly and was appointed Chairman of the Drafting Committee. He oversaw the drafting of what became known as the "Peoples' Constitution" of 1997. The constitution was abrogated in 2006 after a military coup against Thaksin Shinawatra that Anand supported. The People's Constitution instituted several important reforms, including:

He served as UNICEF Ambassador for Thailand since 1996. During November 2003 and December 2004, Anand was requested by then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to chair the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change [1] [2] of the United Nations. The panel of former presidents, prime ministers, and scholars was tasked to prepare recommendations for possible UN reform.

In an attempt to spread the benefits of the country's economic growth, civil servants were given a 23 percent raise in wages, state employers a 20 percent wage rise, and the minimum wage was raised by 15 percent. In addition to this, the Anand government allocated six billion baht in the fiscal year 1992 budget to be distributed to villages and spent at their discretion.

Suchinda resigned on 24 May 1992, following an intervention by the king that ended the violent military crackdown on massive popular protests against his government. The five coalition parties that made up his administration still attempted to cling to power, however, despite calls for their resignation by the opposition and the press, and nominated Air Chief Marshal Somboon Rahong, leader of the Chart Thai Party, for the premiership. At the time it looked as if House Speaker Arthit Urairat was set to submit Somboon's name to the king. Arthit however held back the nomination of Somboon following a meeting with privy councillor Prem, who was thought to have been exerting pressure on behalf of the king. The House Speaker instead announced that no decision would be made until the constitutional amendments were passed on 10 June 1992, adding that the next prime minister would be a civilian.

On 10 June 1992, Arthit surprised the country by recommending Anand's name instead of Somboon's to the king. The announcement was greeted with almost universal approval and even relief. Only the coalition parties of the previous government were dismayed, turning at first on Arthit, who they saw as having betrayed them.

Anand was succeeded by democratically elected Chuan Leekpai later in 1992.

Anand rejoined the Saha-Union Group as chairman after the general elections of 1992. His government had awarded Saha-Union a major Independent Power Producer concession. He resigned from Saha-Union Group in 2002.

On 23 February 1991, a military coup led by Generals Sunthorn Kongsompong, supreme commander of the armed forces, and General Suchinda Kraprayoon, the commander-in-chief of the army, imprisoned Chatichai Choonhavan, the democratically elected leader. As in previous Thai coups, the military formed a National Peace Keeping Council (NPKC) to run the country. To shore up its image and gain the trust of King Bhumibol, the NPKC appointed Anand as interim prime minister.

The interim constitution that was promulgated on 1 March 1991 reconfirmed the intention of the NKPC to retain substantial control. However, Anand was allowed relative freedom to select his own cabinet members. For the entire period of his premiership Anand faced constant pressure from the junta leaders, who tried to influence government decisions in order to gain financial benefits.

Anand's administration proved harder-working than his predecessors. The administration worked on its task of implementing a long list of much-needed reforms. Its emphasis on education, public health, exports, agriculture, industry, environment, and improvement in living conditions, met with widespread approval. In a Bangkok poll in late-July 1991, 61 percent of respondents felt that the Anand government was more honest than previous administrations.

On the international front Anand performed well. Despite international concern over the coup, foreign administrations had sufficient confidence to resume relations quickly. Anand made visits to China in September 1991 and Japan in December 1991, and went on to meetings with President George H. W. Bush in the United States. He was able to shake off the stigma of being a junta-installed prime minister, instead successfully presenting the image of an administration determined to deregulate, cut red tape, and create an environment conductive to free enterprise.

In mid-June 1991, the outspoken president of the Labour Congress of Thailand, Thanong Phoarn, mysteriously disappeared. The deputy defence minister, a military man, casually brushed the matter aside, claiming that Thanong had probably fled his wife. He has not been seen since.

Anand spent 23 years in the foreign service, serving at times as the Ambassador of Thailand to the United Nations, Canada, the United States, and West Germany. In January 1976 he was appointed Permanent Secretary of the foreign ministry, and played a leading role in ensuring the US military withdrawal from Thailand. Following that year's October coup, Anand was branded a communist by the military during the subsequent political witch hunts, presumably for the Foreign Ministry's role in the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Thailand and the People's Republic of China. Although the civil service panel set up to investigate the allegations cleared him of any wrongdoing, Anand was put into relatively unimportant posts and in 1979 left the public sector for the private. He became the Vice-Chairman of the Saha-Union Group in 1979 and the Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1991. He has been a Director of Siam Commercial Bank since 1984.

Anand Panyarachun (Thai: อานันท์ ปันยารชุน, RTGS: Anan Panyarachun, pronounced [ʔāː.nān pān.jāː.rā.t͡ɕʰūn]; born 9 August 1932) was Thailand's Prime Minister twice: once in 1991–1992 and again during the latter half of 1992. He was effective in initiating economic and political reforms, one of which was the drafting of Thailand's "Peoples' Constitution", which was promulgated in 1997 and abrogated in 2006. Anand received a Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 1997.

Anand was the youngest of twelve children of a wealthy family of Mon heritage on his father's side and Thai-Chinese (Hokkien) on his mother's. His father, Sern was a son of a high-ranking official of Mon ancestry. His father studied in England on a king's scholarship, and later oversaw all royal schools and thereafter a successful businessman in the 1930s. His paternal grandfather built an ethnic Mon monastery in Ratchaburi called Wat Khao Chon Phran. According to Anand, he inherited his Chinese heritage from his maternal grandmother, whose surname was Lau (Chinese: 刘). His Chinese ancestors came to Thailand in the mid-18th century and eventually became one of the country's most prominent Chinese families. He is distantly related to Korn Chatikavanij through this branch of his family. Anand attended Dulwich College and later read law at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with honours in 1955.