If the generals stick to their promises, Thais will be queuing at polling stations next October to cast votes in a general election under a new constitution. Hopes are high for a new era of clean politics. Alas, such hopes will almost certainly be dashed. For one thing, voters will more than likely be choosing from a reshuffled political pack, shorn of a few jokers, but mostly the same faces - many wearing new party suits. The junta's interim government may break up the largest political parties and banish dozens of leading players from politics. But these players' local pull, wealth and connections will see to it that their relatives and friends fill seats in parliament. For another, other tycoons show little enthusiasm for the front line of politics, unlike deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. His wealth built Thai Rak Thai, which formed Thailand's first single-party government. His controversial and bossy reign ended with a coup last month. Mr Thaksin might one day stage a comeback: he is only 57, wealthy and retains an aura of success - a big draw for Thais. But it won't be at the next election: the generals will see to that. Instead, half a dozen parties will fill the arena - some old, some new - and build a government by horse-trading. A coalition government seems certain, in a rerun of the 1990s - which was marked by revolving-door governments, policy see-saws and, yes, plenty of corruption. Thais were optimistic that the 16th constitution - widely praised locally and abroad after promulgation in 1997 - would tame politicians' greed, put wrongdoers in jail and deliver stable government. Now many democracy campaigners and academics blame it for allowing Mr Thaksin to run circles around the checks and balances of democracy. Like bad workmen, however, they are blaming the tools. Mr Thaksin got away with so much, for so long, because many people operating those checks and balances appeared to do his bidding - or shirked their responsibilities in the face of great pressure. For instance, around 60 of the 100 senators in the supposedly independent Senate were widely thought to be in his pocket. Many were wives or family of Thai Rak Thai ministers and advisers. In February, the Constitutional Court refused a detailed petition demanding Mr Thaksin's impeachment on charges of helping to sell his family's Shin Corp conglomerate to Temasek, an investment arm of the Singapore government. Five years ago, the Constitutional Court voted eight to seven in favour of Mr Thaksin, thereby overturning a ruling by the National Counter Corruption Commission in what seemed an open-and-shut case that he had failed to declare all his assets, as required by law. After the ruling, those who voted against him were pilloried. There is little reason to hope that a new constitution, drafted in less than six months, will change a society overnight. Perhaps it will be overly idealistic, like previous charters - which expected people to change to fit them, rather than being written to fit the people. Yet, writing a constitution to fit Thai society is like buying uniforms for young children: they don't fit for long. David Fullbrook is a freelance writer and political analyst