Drafted by law lecturers from Chulalongkorn University (CU),[1] the constitution was enacted by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a military junta led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha which staged a coup d'état against the caretaker government on 22 May 2014.

[4] Although the constitution recognises Thailand as a democratic state and the Thai people as sovereign, the constitution grants amnesty to those involved for all past and future military actions concerning the coup and invests the NCPO with vast powers, including the power by which the NCPO leader can issue any order at will for the sake of the reforms or security.

On that day, the military formed the NCPO to rule the nation and partially repealed the 2007 constitution, keeping intact chapter 2 (concerning the monarchical institution).

[6] General Prayut said that he would run the country until the situation requires an interim government,[7] without promises of a quick return to civilian rule.

[9] On 23 June 2014, it was announced that Chulalongkorn University law lecturer Wissanu Krea-ngam was drafting an interim constitution for General Prayut.

Pornpet is known for his unsuccessful proposal to extend the lèse majesté law to all members of the royal household and the privy council.

[14] Sections 21–25 contain certain prerogatives of the king, such as the issuance of decrees, the conclusion of treaties, and the ceremonial appointment and removal of governmental officers.

If it fails to observe the time limit, it comes to an end and a new CC is then appointed within 15 days to draw up a new draft.

Within 30 days of the initial consideration, any member of the NRC, NCPO, or cabinet may make proposals for editing the draft to the CC.

[14] Section 40 requires the issuance of a royal decree to determine monetary benefits for the members of the NLA, NRC, NCPO, and CC.

[2] Provisions similar to section 44 had been contained in some of the previous interim supreme laws of Thailand and had been invoked by Thai military dictators to order extrajudicial killings.

One of the notable cases was section 17 of the 1959 charter which had been invoked by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat to order a large number of people accused of crimes to be executed without proper trials in court.

Those alleged crimes ranged from committing arson, being communists, to proclaiming oneself a saint which was considered by Field Marshal Sarit to be a threat to the throne.

"[19] Regarding the amnesty under sections 47 and 48, Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs, said, "The point of the constitution is to add palace legitimacy to the coup through the king-endorsed enshrinement of new laws."

[4] Retired Thammasat University (TU) dean of law Panas Tassaneyanond said, "The only thing democracy lovers could hold on to was the NCPO leader's pledge to return power to the people.

[21] During the appearance, CU law lecturer Wissanu Krea-ngam, who drafted the interim constitution, said the power under section 44 is intended for dealing with any counter-coup.

[22] Pornpet Wichitchonlachai, another CU law lecturer who assisted Wissanu in drafting the interim constitution, said he personally believed that General Prayut, in exercising the power under section 44, would not go as far as Field Marshal Sarit did.

[22] However, the televising was immediately stopped when Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior journalist from The Nation, asked the NCPO to more clearly explain sections 44 and 48.

[22] Following heavy criticism, the military ordered prohibition of public discussions on the interim constitution, saying that "love and harmony of the people in the nation" would be affected.

[30] On 2 August 2014, the royal decree under section 40 of the constitution was issued to determine monetary benefits for the NCPO members.

[33] In October 2014, the United Nations issued a short report citing several criticisms and notes of concern over the 2014 interim constitution.

[36] The process of writing a new constitution must now start from scratch and the earliest an election could be held would be April 2017, delaying a return to the junta's long promised "true democracy".