| Meechai Ruchuphan | |
| Native Name Lang: | th |
| Office2: | President of the Senate of Thailand |
| Office: | President of the National Legislative Assembly |
| Birth Date: | 1938 2, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Bangkok, Siam (now Bangkok, Thailand) |
| Spouse: | Amphorn Ruchuphan |
| Nationality: | Thai |
| Office1: | President of the National Assembly of Thailand |
| Term Start1: | 28 June 1992 |
| Term End1: | 22 September 1992 |
| Term Start: | 11 October 2006 |
| Term End: | 20 January 2008 |
| Term Start2: | 28 June 1992 |
| Term End2: | 21 March 2000 |
| Office3: | Acting Prime Minister of Thailand |
| Monarch3: | Bhumibol Adulyadej |
| Term Start3: | 24 May 1992 |
| Term End3: | 10 June 1992 |
| Predecessor3: | Suchinda Kraprayoon |
| Successor3: | Anand Panyarachun |
| Office4: | Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand |
| Primeminister4: | Anand Panyarachun |
| Term Start4: | 2 March 1991 |
| Term End4: | 22 March 1992 |
| Primeminister5: | Suchinda Kraprayoon Himself (acting) |
| Term Start5: | 14 April 1992 |
| Term End5: | 9 June 1992 |
| Office6: | Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister |
| Primeminister6: | Prem Tinsulanonda |
| Term Start6: | 21 March 1980 |
| Term End6: | 3 August 1988 |
| Primeminister7: | Chatichai Choonhavan |
| Term Start7: | 9 August 1988 |
| Term End7: | 4 January 1990 |
Meechai Ruchuphan (Thai: มีชัย ฤชุพันธุ์,, in Thai pronounced as /miː.t͡ɕʰaj rɯ́.t͡ɕʰú.pʰan/; born 2 February 1938[1]) is a Thai legal expert and politician who served as acting Prime Minister of Thailand in 1992.
Meechai has completed a bachelor's degree in law from Thammasat University and a master's degree in comparative law from Southern Methodist University, Texas. He participated in the Texas Legislative Internship Program.
After his return to Thailand, he became a civil servant at the Office of the Council of State, rising to become head of the law drafting division. He was appointed legal advisor of prime minister Sanya Dharmasakti in 1973 and permanently assigned to the Office of the Prime Minister. During the military rule he was appointed a member of the Nationale Legislative Assembly in 1977 and in the same year deputy secretary-general of the prime minister.[2]
In March 1980, he was appointed minister to the Office of the Prime Minister in the cabinet of General Prem Tinsulanonda. He held that position during all of Prem's eight-year rule and even after the change of government under Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan until 1990. Concurrently, he served as Senator from 1983 to 1989. In April 1991 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, serving under Anand Panyarachun and then under his successor General Suchinda Kraprayoon. Meechai also was president of the 1991 Constitution drafting committee.[2]
After Suchinda's resignation under public pressure in the course of the events of Black May on 24 May 1992, Meechai acted as caretaker prime minister until a new head of government (Anand Panyarachun for a second term) was appointed on 10 June.
Afterwards Meechai served as Senator again and was the Speaker of the Senate from 1992 to 2000.[2] In this position he presided over a constitutional tribunal which ruled as legal an executive decree of the Suchinda administration (reportedly drafted by Meechai himself) that amnestied those responsible for the shooting of protesters.[3] [4] Meechai was critical of the 1997 draft constitution that had been elaborated in a long process under intensive participation of the civil society. He deemed some of the provisions too progressive, e.g. the article that declared all discrimination on grounds of social origin illegal. This was in Meechai's view incompatible with Thai culture that held it normal to crawl on knees in front of the king and unthinkable to confront him upright and akimbo.[5] However, he finally supported the passage of the constitution in order to avoid political chaos giving the Asian financial and economic crisis and the hope that many had set on this draft.[6]
Meechai served as President of the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly of Thailand (NLA) after the coup d'état in 2006.[7] His appointment was seen as a sign for a move towards a more conservative, law-and-order constitution.[8] He retrospectively judged the 1997 constitution as unsuitable for Thailand, comparing it to a Rolls-Royce with which one cannot plough a paddy field.[9] [10] He claimed that the Thai monarchy was endangered by three different groups: one group was questioning the necessity of monarchy through articles and research; one was anonymously attacking members of the royal family by criticising their behaviour and posting unsuitable images on websites hosted abroad; the third would abuse the monarchy for self-interest and political causes. Therefore, the rigorous lèse-majesté law had to stay in place and be strictly enforced.[11] Meechai was also an advocate of appointed, instead of democratically elected, Prime Minister and National Assembly.[12]
As of 2011, Meechai was the chairman of Thailand's Law Reform Commission at the Council of State. After another coup d'état in 2014, Meechai—as one of two civilians—was appointed as a member of the junta which calls itself the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).[13] After a first military-appointed committee's draft constitution failed, Meechai was appointed chairman of another Constitution drafting committee by the NCPO on 5 October 2015.[14] [15]
Meechai was married to Khunying Amphorn Ruchuphan (née Seneewongse na Ayutthaya). They had two daughters.[2]
The academic David Streckfuss names Meechai as an example of "Those in the Shade of Charisma", referring to a group of (appointed) politicians, important business and upper-class figures who are in favour with the palace.[16]