Thailand is governed by a constitutional monarchy with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej as Head of State. 

Official power rests with the government, personified by the Prime Minister, the Parliament, and a bureaucratic system that reaches down to the village level. Over past decades the Prime Minister's personal power has steadily increased, largely because of the Thai tendency to express their concerns to the highest-ranking authority, in nation as well as family. This frequently results in provincial delegations appearing at Government House requesting decisions on local problems. The Constitution is the highest law of the land, and provides for governing through a system of centralization.

Legislative power is vested in the Parliament, and exercised through a bicameral National Assembly consisting of the publicly elected House of Representatives and the Senate. The Parliament must approve all legislative matters of national policy, which then require the King's signature before becoming the law of the land. 



Judicial power is exercised through the Law Courts with three levels, namely the Courts of First Instance, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.

Executive power is exercised through a Cabinet headed by a Prime Minister. Essentially, the Royal Thai Government is composed of a Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, who head 15 major ministries.

These ministries are  the Office of the Prime Minister; the Finance Ministry; the Foreign Affairs Ministry; the Defense Ministry; the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry; the Education Ministry; the Transport and Communications Ministry; the Commerce Ministry; the Public Health Ministry; the Science,Technology and Environment Ministry; the Ministry of University Affairs; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare; the Ministry of Industry; and the largest and most powerful, the Interior Ministry, under whose auspices come a wide range of responsibilities, from provincial government to the police department, reaching down to the villages at the base of the pyramidal government structure.

The system of administration is centralized but divided into regional and provincial administrations. The city of Bangkok has its own administrative bodies and elects its own governor. Provincial administration is the responsibility of the Interior Ministry, which appoints a governor for each of Thailand's 75 provinces. Regional administration has its own regional electoral system governed by the administrative bodies.