Special Report: PM says Thailand at crossroads

BANGKOK: -- The Thai government is starting a reform process to bring about a better future to the country and prepare Thailand for various challenges and opportunities.

The National Reform Council has been established and it is emphasizing reform in 11 areas – politics, national administration, laws and the justice system, local administration, education, the economy, energy, public health and the environment, mass media, and social affairs, as well as other matters.

According to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Thailand is now at the crossroads and needs to review itself before moving toward sustainable development. In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts. Public views and opinions on the reform will be gathered as well.

The Government has also considered administrative reform an urgent task, which is crucial to the direction of the country and will help in other reforms in Thai society.

When we look at Thai history, King Borommatrailokkanat (1448-1488) of the Ayutthaya Kingdom was the first ruler to organize the national administration in a bureaucratic reform manner. He initiated the “Four Pillars” in administration, comprising the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of the Royal Household, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Agriculture. A minister of state was appointed to take charge of each ministry. Two prime ministers were appointed: one supervising military personnel and the other civil servants.

The reason King Borommatrailokkanat introduced the said administrative reform was that, when compared with the Sukhothai Kingdom, Ayutthaya had a greater number of people and a greater size. So the paternalistic system of administration adopted during the Sukhothai period would no longer work in Ayutthaya.

King Chulalongkorn the Great (Rama V) of the Rattanakosin period initiated extensive reforms of the administration, both in Bangkok and the provinces. Administrative reform during his reign marked a significant step in modern Thai history. Ministries modeled after Western patterns were established, replacing older administrative bodies. This new ministerial system of government, which formed the basis of the present-day ministerial system, was inaugurated in 1892. King Chulalongkorn introduced bureaucratic reform to create a unified administrative system, and it proved successful in maintaining Siam’s independence in the face of the Western colonial threat.

After the change of the country’s administrative system from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarch in 1932, the government structure was reorganized in response to the changing environment. It was divided into central, regional, and local administration.

Another major administrative reform movement was made in 2002, when two laws were issued, one the Public Administration Act and the other the Restructuring of Government Agencies Act.

-- NNT 2015-01-17

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

Maybe LoS is at the entrance to a Cul de Sac and who is driving ?

Hope Costas doesn't say Lewis Hamilton or the like otherwise the country will hit the end wall even faster.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

Since the majority of posters are foreigners no Thai, especially one of the PM's standing, would need or seek our thoughts.

Anyway there would be no need to ask as his propaganda people can easily say we all understand and support what's being done. After all they do it for other nations so a few TV posters would be easy enough to represent.

Thailand Prime Minister has been at the cross roads for a decade at least, one wonders if this latest round of Coups is going to heal a lot of unhealthy thoughts about the elite establishment for starters and the other is the Shinawatra Family, one cannot sir imagine anything has changed and from what I have seen in the reforms charter so far, you are now nearly back to pre 1992 era, just where all the upper crust have always wanted the situation , especially with the introduction of Outsiders as unelected members of parliament , just makes a mockery of your Democracy.

Please advise your happy reporters, journalists, etc. the current group of nonelected personnel who hijacked the

little bit of democracy (as pitiful as it was) is correctly called a Military JUNTA and not currently a government.

Let's get with the program and correct terminology!!!

A lovely history lesson (Well, maybe not !!!) but what on earth does this have to do with Thailand in the modern age?

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

Completely and utterly delusional. Whatever you're on you should sell it as you make a fortune.

Hey Costas how big is the spoon you get your daily dose of 'wisdom' from?

How on earth can you be comparing structure of the country 600 years ago to today?. I find it very sad that this sort of thing is thought relevant. I try to be clued up on British history, particularly the 19th/20th century, but frankly I haven't a clue who was king in 1448. (I can look it up, but that would be cheating)

My point is that you cannot use feudal comparisons to run a modern state.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

Hilarious those people then go on to make meaningless rhetoric posts to prove your point. Whatever criticism you can lay at the Junta, you can lay it tenfold at Pheu-Thai.

Never forget the 310:0 amnesty bill : the biggest disgrace I have ever witnessed from a government. Every one of them is unfit for office.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

'What brand of boot polish do you use on your tongue to polish his jackboots' more like...

We all know what Thais do at crossroads....pull out without looking or indicating and with certainly no regard for anyone else. Whatever Thailand does they usually make their own idiosyncratic mess of it. That is afterall the basis of Thainess. Errors are there to be repeated not learned from.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

His brand of boot polish is called Common Sense. There's another brand called 'Intelligence'. Have you tried them?

How on earth can you be comparing structure of the country 600 years ago to today?. I find it very sad that this sort of thing is thought relevant. I try to be clued up on British history, particularly the 19th/20th century, but frankly I haven't a clue who was king in 1448. (I can look it up, but that would be cheating)

My point is that you cannot use feudal comparisons to run a modern state.

By viewing the contemporary context through the lens of past paternalistic kings and hierarchical structures, has proven an effective device for modern autocrats to structure current society in a timewarped ideal of subservience to authority.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

His brand of boot polish is called Common Sense. There's another brand called 'Intelligence'. Have you tried them?

I have tried them both, I hope we can sit together on the dual track, high speed train to Nong Khai and discuss it in two years from now.

Sums up the leader types in this country very well; heads stuck back in 1488 ! Lecture's like this will do ziltch for moving the country forward into the modern world.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

maybe from the same company who supply you "coolade"

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

So does your comment mean you want Thailand to go back to the way it was?

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

Based on your naive comments, you are the one ignorant of the political realities. This regime is a group of tired old reactionaries whose only goal is to send thailand back 50 years. The end of corruption is very low on their list of real priorities, and they have already shown the absolute disrespect for the constituion when they abolished it by force.

The PM is right. All Thais must get involved in the reform process, without everyones involvement problems might arise in the future. Now is the time to speak up and be heard.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

What brand of boot polish do you use to polish his Jackboots?

Probably his own saliva.

"In this regard, all sectors of Thai society have been urged to join the reform efforts."

General, please, whatever you do, never ask the majority of TVF members as it is amazing how ignorant they are on Thai political issues.

The only thing they know is to repeat themselves, asking for your good self to go away, without realizing or even thinking that this will put Thailand back to the old days of corruption, disrespect of the law and the constitution.

Please, take your time and reform this country........elections and democracy can wait.

Thailand is not ready yet to face them again.

And please, please, please make sure you listen to your electorate only, not a bunch of sycophantic, cowardly foreigners who mistakenly feel that currying favour will make any future visa applications easier.

Martin Niemöller wrote a nice poem for you.

Ain't it great to see and read the rhetoric from all the Red Apologists.. this article has really brought them out of the woodwork.. not an ounce of sense between the lot of them as if their views count... Go look at the Thai peoples .. happier than they have been in years... Maybe as farangs we do not agree with the happenings of this Government but the Thai peoples need someone to guide them and certainly not any of the previous incumbents ... Lets just hope that the reforms being created at present time will make a Big difference for the good of Thailand.. Long live the King..

How on earth can you be comparing structure of the country 600 years ago to today?. I find it very sad that this sort of thing is thought relevant. I try to be clued up on British history, particularly the 19th/20th century, but frankly I haven't a clue who was king in 1448. (I can look it up, but that would be cheating)

My point is that you cannot use feudal comparisons to run a modern state.

By viewing the contemporary context through the lens of past paternalistic kings and hierarchical structures, has proven an effective device for modern autocrats to structure current society in a timewarped ideal of subservience to authority.

What has the US got to do with this discussion?

Well said Bakseeda!

I hope the general realized that Thailand was at a cross road 18 times over caused by repeated coups and tearing up of 18 constitutions.

The PM is right. All Thais must get involved in the reform process, without everyones involvement problems might arise in the future. Now is the time to speak up and be heard.

Why not ask the good General to repeal the beer monoply, and allow the average Thai person to brew and sell beer in convenience stores and bars? Currently you are only allowed to make and sell on your own beer on premises or outside of Thailand.

What other businesses are closed for the soul purpose of pandering to the elite ?

Brewing beer? A business soley for the elites. Maybe they don't like the idea of a drunk Thailand as it is after all a Buddhist majority country where right thinking and right concioness is important.