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What role does a governor of a province in Thailand actually have? How much power do they hold?

charliechoc

By charliechoc
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charliechoc Senior Member

charliechoc

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I've not had any contact with a governor in the cities I've resided in. I wanted to know what sort of power do these people have exactly? Can they have any impact on local businesses? 

 

Whats their role exactly? Before they make decisions do they have to get approval from a committee within the local government or is it only down to them. 

 

I read the governor or Burriam province stating that he wanted to make it mandatory for all people in his province to get the covid vaccine. Did he have to get approval from anyone to make this call or does he have god-like power?? Surely he has to consult and get approval from the local health office before making such an important decision. 

 

10 yrs ago I lived in a city in Isan and I remember many thais telling me the governor, at the time, was no good implying he was a bit corrupt. In the current city where we live the gossip is that this guy is very strict and will not bend the rules (and thats the reason why people dont like him!). Like any politician (anywhere in the world) people will form their own opinions. Therefore one would presume that they cant just do whatever they want as the general population living in the city will form their own opinions and eventually vote the person out. 

 

Finally, do they only get one term in office or can they rule forever if they keep getting voted in?

 

Thanks for educating me on this matter. Im interested to hear any experiences or gossip that you've personally heard of within your current province.

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CharlieH Star Member

CharlieH

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Its my understanding they are appointed by the Government.

They have a degree of autonomy but receive and implement from central Government.

They are or can be moved around to other provinces if there is an "issue".

Thats all I know ????

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charliechoc Senior Member

charliechoc

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3 minutes ago, orchis said:

the constant moving around of governors is very peculiar .

How is this viable? If they are voted into office in x province (by the people) and then they are moved to y province. How can this be legal?

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BritManToo Star Member

BritManToo

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Just now, charliechoc said:

How is this viable? If they are voted into office in x province (by the people) and then they are moved to y province. How can this be legal?

Most are appointed directly by the government.

It was different before the Prayut military government took over, so your experiences of 10 years ago are not relevant.

Edited by BritManToo
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orchis Gold Member

orchis

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28 minutes ago, charliechoc said:

How is this viable? If they are voted into office in x province (by the people) and then they are moved to y province. How can this be legal?

they are traditionally appointed by the Minister of the Interior. The Bangkok governor is elected, though.

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charliechoc Senior Member

charliechoc

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33 minutes ago, orchis said:

they are traditionally appointed by the Minister of the Interior. The Bangkok governor is elected, though.

I dont understand your comment bc there will soon be an election in a province that I know. Theres posters everywhere with photos of them all wearing their white suits. It seems that the people are about to vote for their governor. 

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mfd101 Platinum Member

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5 minutes ago, charliechoc said:

that link doesn't really say much about governors..

It does however say that the governor of BKK is the only one who is elected.

 

The others are appointed by the central government although their advisory council is (I think) elected. Very similar to the French system of prefects appointed by the national government, with local mayors & councils elected by The People.

 

 

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skatewash Gold Member

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As near as I can tell governors are appointed by the Ministry of the Interior to serve indefinite terms (but practically this seems to be for 1-2 years).  Governors are often rotated around to different provinces and often the appointments occur in batches for a large number of provinces.  Only the Bangkok Governor is elected although I believe the incumbent was appointed. 

Looking through the list of current governors one notes a couple things.  They usually seem to be appointed on 1 October.  There are very few governors who have served for more than 3 years in a particular province.  My guess is that they are appointed for a year and if they do a good job they get a second year.  If they are doing an extraordinary job they maybe get a third or fourth year.  After serving for a couple years they may be rotated to serve as the governor of another province.  If they've done a bad job they get rotated to a less prestigious province.  If they've done a really bad job they maybe don't get to be governor again, anywhere.  Of course, at some point they retire, too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_provincial_governors_in_Thailand

The governor of the province in which the 12 boys and their coach on the soccer team where trapped in the cave was due to be rotated to a different province, but I think was directed to remain in that province for purpose of continuity and because it was believed by the powers that be that he was doing a good job.

Obviously national elections and coups have an impact on who the Ministry of the Interior decides to appoint as governor.

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Gandtee Platinum Member

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19 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Its my understanding they are appointed by the Government.

They have a degree of autonomy but receive and implement from central Government.

They are or can be moved around to other provinces if there is an "issue".

Thats all I know ????

I had a Governor friend . He was transferred to a minor posting for trying to stop illegal logging in his province. That was twenty years ago.

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mfd101 Platinum Member

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In sum, they are senior bureaucrats (not politicians, though like all good bureaucrats they need to be sensitive to the politics at both local & national levels). While they have considerable autonomy on a day-to-day basis, their job is to implement the central government's policies in their province.

 

Woe to he (they're all he's as far as I know) who strays too far from government policy and PRACTICE.

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SomchaiCNX Gold Member

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20 hours ago, charliechoc said:

I dont understand your comment bc there will soon be an election in a province that I know. Theres posters everywhere with photos of them all wearing their white suits. It seems that the people are about to vote for their governor. 

Negative only the BKK governor as mentioned above, is elected the rest appointed government officials

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AgMech Cowboy Gold Member

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22 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Its my understanding they are appointed by the Government.

They have a degree of autonomy but receive and implement from central Government.

They are or can be moved around to other provinces if there is an "issue".

Thats all I know ????

That's a good summary and is pretty spot on.

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OJAS Ruby Member

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21 hours ago, charliechoc said:

I dont understand your comment bc there will soon be an election in a province that I know. Theres posters everywhere with photos of them all wearing their white suits. It seems that the people are about to vote for their governor. 

 

In which case the inhabitants of said province would be strongly advised to invest in earplugs so as to deaden the bloody racket emanating from campaigning pick-ups and their multi-megawatt sound systems.????

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NoshowJones Star Member

NoshowJones

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What role does a governor of a province in Thailand actually have? How much power do they hold?

How much power do they hold? As much as they want, as long as it is not detrimental to the unelected "PM" and his soldiers

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NoshowJones Star Member

NoshowJones

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8 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

What role does a governor of a province in Thailand actually have? How much power do they hold?

How much power do they hold? As much as they want, as long as it is not detrimental to the unelected "PM" and his soldiers

What did I do to make my post turn out like this? ????

Regards. Possum.

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zzaa09 Star Member

zzaa09

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On 5/19/2021 at 11:07 PM, BritManToo said:

Most are appointed directly by the government.

It was different before the Prayut military government took over, so your experiences of 10 years ago are not relevant.

The hidden hand of local mafias rule the roost. And the way it's been forever. 

Shhh...we won't tell anyone. ????

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Damrongsak Platinum Member

Damrongsak

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Until recently, Loei had an apparently good governor (Chaiwat Chuenkosum), though it wasn't his first post.  He grew up poor and did manual labor in Loei for a number of years.  I think he's governor of Pathum Thani now.  He used to ride a bicycle to work in Loei. 

 

Saw this blurb about the new governor siding with a mining company over the locals:  https://prachatai.com/english/node/9041

 

 

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charliechoc Senior Member

charliechoc

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8 hours ago, digbeth said:

Apart from Bangkok, Only Pattya, a special administrative area has elected Mayor, and that has been occupied by a member of the local incumbent family for multiple terms 

so why are there trucks driving around my city advertising the candidates and pics of these guys by the side of the road. And an ad for the date of the election. We do not live in bkk or pattaya!

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skatewash Gold Member

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2 minutes ago, charliechoc said:

so why are there trucks driving around my city advertising the candidates and pics of these guys by the side of the road. And an ad for the date of the election. We do not live in bkk or pattaya!

Local governments elections, not for governor.

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