Thai Govt 'Not Sincere' About Decentralisation Of Power

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Govt 'not sincere' about decentralisation of power

By Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

Local administrative organisations and citizens are asking for a sincere commitment by government to transfer power to communities, giving them full authority to issue regulations and manage resources.

Suriya Yeenoo, mayor of Songkhla province's tambon Plik Municipality, said the central government had transferred some power to local administrative organisations to manage resources and benefits since the Decentralisation Act was established in 1999.

"But there has been no sincerity in the government to give real power to people, as it is still thinking that local governments cannot run things by themselves," he said.

"We have indeed done a lot of things that the central government did not," he added.

Suriya was speaking at a seminar entitled "Power: Centralisation or Decentralisation" organised by the National Reform Committee.

The seminar was part of a threeday national reform forum that started on Thursday. More than 500 people from several civic groups and state agencies across the country came together to discuss the problems that have caused conflict in Thai society during the past 10 years.

The National Reform Committee's first seminar comes after the bloody crackdown on the red shirts last year.

Centralisation of power is one of the biggest issues causing inequity in society, Suriya said. "The central government's strict regulations have made it difficult to transfer power to local administrative organisations."

These regulations require local administrative organisations to conduct a lot of processes for community projects. Moreover, the central government does not allocate enough budget and manpower for them, he said.

"Local administrative organisations have the capacity to deal with problems in local communities. It is time for us to reform administrative power and transfer this power to people," he said.

"They have a closer relationship with local people than the central government does," he added.

Siriporn Panyasen, chief executive of Lampang province's Pichai local administrative organisation, said people had less and less power to govern themselves since the Decentralisation Act had been established, as the central government had issued a lot of regulations that blocked the transfer of administrative power to communities.

"Local administrative organisations are now ready to reform themselves but the central government still is not," she said.

Phitsanulok province native Khamplerng Boontham said local people should have more power to determine their own future. They should participate with government to make any decision on any megaproject that is to be constructed in their areas.

"People have been affected by the government's megaprojects that have been constructed in their communities. We need more power to determine our future," he said.

-- The Nation 2011-03-26

[TimeBandit2]

What they mean is de-centralized administration - but this not how monarchies are structured.

Unrelated to it to this...this number of people wearing pink shirts look pretty goofy.

[yellow1red1]

http://www.nationmul...n-30151796.html

point counter point