Integration: another name for government control?

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
Integration: another name for government control?
Samudcha Hoonsara
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has regularly mentioned "integration" in her remarks when talking about government work and performance. This same term was also a catchword when her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra was serving as the government head many years ago.

For many, it is interesting what "integration" means for this government led by the Pheu Thai Party, and for Thaksin's administration, which was then led by the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party. That government proposed a reform of the bureaucracy that has been implemented for more than a decade.

The question is how successful these integration plans were for Thaksin when he ran the country, and now for Yingluck and her administration.

The recent appointment of Nakhon Nayok Governor Surachai Srisarakham as the new permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology may serve as an interesting case for study. A report from the recent Cabinet meeting said that Surachai, from the Interior Ministry, was picked to become the new chief permanent official at the ICT Ministry because he had received a computing-related award from the Smithsonian Institute in 1990. And Nakhon Nayok was selected as a "smart province" in an ICT Ministry pilot project, while he was serving as the provincial governor.

The "smart province" project is part of the government's Smart Thailand plan to connect the provinces and government agencies through a network of high-speed Internet. It was said that the prime minister was impressed with Surachai's briefing about the Smart Thailand project during her visit to Nakhon Nayok.

Many people may doubt whether that was enough to appoint a senior official from the Interior Ministry to become the top permanent official of the ICT Ministry. It appears the Thai bureaucracy has come to a point where politicians in power have more say than permanent officials in selecting the permanent secretary. This could lead to opposition by bureaucrats against political intervention.

Another case of integration involving the government was the Cabinet decision on Tuesday to approve in principle a plan to set up a new Ministry of Water Resources.

The ruling Pheu Thai Party came up with this idea of creating a water resources ministry since the flood crisis of 2011. The Cabinet decision came at a time when the country had seen flooding in many provinces, although the scope of destruction has not been as severe as the previous one two years ago.

In February, Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who heads the government's Water and Flood Management Commission, said it was time for Thailand to have a new ministry to oversee management of the country's water resources.

It appears politicians in power are using the new flood crisis facing many Thais as an excuse to establish a new ministry. They seem to be pointing to the need for "single command" in managing water resources and dealing with flood problems, although in fact there have been considerable flaws in the government's work in this area.


-- The Nation 2013-10-04

[Thai at Heart]

Great. Let's build ministries and projects around the bogus qualifications of incompetent politicians.

[Thait Spot]

That's a lot of words.

Save the column inches and just say "Lackey".

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NongKhaiKid]

The question is how well did the integration plans work for Mr. t WHEN he ran the country ?

Why is this in the past tense as he's still running the country ?

[Tatsujin]

They seem to be pointing to the need for "single command" in managing water resources and dealing with flood problems, although in fact there have been considerable flaws in the government's work in this area.

Wow, there's an understatement and a half.

[noitom]

The newspaper writes about this flooding and Thai posturing as if it's totally in the dark about what's actually going on, what's happened, and the real deal is. The newspaper is playing the charade along with the Thai politicians.

[gemini81]

She doesn't ever know what she is talking about, the scripts and the game plan are beyond her; if she tried to understand, she'd trainwreck.

Better ask the elder brother if you want to know the scheme.

Edited October 4, 2013 by gemini81

[MaxLee]

Brainwashing Propaganda Integration: another name for IS government control ultimate objective

[noitom]

Well gee whiz, thanks for clearing that up. Another example of "integration" would be embracing and assimilating all the Thai people of different characteristics, origins, and economic status into the political process and benefits of Thai wealth. For example, take the millions and millions of poor Thais in Isaan, the Thai south and virtually all non privileged Thais outside Bangkok and start "integrating" them and welcoming them into the prosperity of Thailand.

[smedly]

This is all about making people accountable who have no accountability - it's a complete pile of nonsense - having proper independent authorities and agencies is how you create accountability but this government is trying to get rid of what little there is including the courts - shocking that a government of any country can even come up with crap like this.

[worgeordie]

Integration, I think that should read" intimidation" , its more like

what the Government is about,with their rent a mob of Red shirt

thugs.

regards Worgeordie

[kerrysum]

Well gee whiz, thanks for clearing that up. Another example of "integration" would be embracing and assimilating all the Thai people of different characteristics, origins, and economic status into the political process and benefits of Thai wealth. For example, take the millions and millions of poor Thais in Isaan, the Thai south and virtually all non privileged Thais outside Bangkok and start "integrating" them and welcoming them into the prosperity of Thailand.

Great idea, but I fear there is too much money in the pot.... I have never seen it change in my life time yet, but the Issan, know how to survive....

The spirit will be with them, they are a great attribute to this land we call Thailand!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KILOSIERRA

[khunken]

There is nothing wrong with integration if it's done for the right reasons and by the right (competent) people.

The two examples fail - one on both counts.

The Nakhon Nayok governor 'impressed Yingluck and has been shoe-horned into a lucrative position. Considering that Yingluck has never demonstrated any competence in IT, her judgement is worthless. Could it be that the guy is a Thaksin acolyte? That's the normal qualification.

Integrating all the agencies responsible with water management is, on the face of it, a good idea. The problem is with the person chosen to run the new Ministry. If it's Plodprasop (& he must be favourite) it's damned (sic) to failure from the start.

Both PTP & the Democrats choose supporters to run important parts of the government apparatus. The difference is that Dem selections, with a few exceptions, usually have some competence. PTP selections have none.