Tambon chief backs more roles for local people

By Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation on Sunday

Local people should be allowed to scrutinise and participate in the running of local administrative bodies such as the Tambon Administrative Organisations (TAO), a TAO chief and veteran social activist said.

Bamrung Kayotha, TAO chief of tambon Saphan Wah in Kalasin province, said: "Villagers can't get into the decision-making mechanism and they merely elect [the TAO head] and that's it. Those [elected TAO representatives] who buy votes also engage in corruption only to buy votes again in the next election," said Bamrung, who was in Bangkok last week to attend the National Reform Congress.

Bamrung said vote-buying in TAO elections was still very common and he reckoned that fewer than 2 per cent of TAO elections nationwide did not involve bribe though many villagers see it differently. "Villagers don't consider it as vote-buying but regard it as generosity from the candidates," he said.

Corruption after recent TAO elections involved using the budget to construct an asphalt road on top of a smooth reinforced concrete road only 12 months after it was built so that these representatives would get a cut from the construction firm. There is also corruption in the deals for local school milk, with about Bt10 satang per pack being siphoned off to the TAO chief. Another area of corruption is the purchase of a garbage truck, which is not really needed for a small community.

At tambon Saphan Wah, where Bamrung was elected twice as TAO chief, he said the 4,000 residents, who have an annual budget of Bt13 million, can do without a garbage truck by being more disciplined in getting rid of rubbish.

Many TAOs also like to have an elaborate office to boost the ego of the TAO chief, Bamrung said. Corruption is encouraged by undertaking expensive construction work, he said, while adding that his TAO office is arguably the most modest in the Kingdom, being just a one-storey wooden structure.

He urged the public to be patient and said that eventually, if locals are given greater say in scrutinising the local budget and activities, the decentralisation of politics will be successful.

Today, the district chief still has to approve TAO projects first, he said. "It's still rather new. In the long run, the villagers will understand that democracy is not just about elections," he said. In Kalasin, only eight out of 36 TAO chiefs have been re-elected, a sign that voters are also making critical decisions and not merely voting for people who unduly use cash, he added.

Bamrung said though he opposed the government's raising of the TAO chief's salary from Bt10,800 to Bt18,000, he believes a bigger budget is needed.

-- The Nation 2011-04-03

Opening up to more opportunities of corruption. No other reason.

Opening up to more opportunities of corruption. No other reason.

Bamrung said though he opposed the government's raising of the TAO chief's salary from Bt10,800 to Bt18,000, he believes a bigger budget is needed.

Well said.....:jap: