New Thai law to help cut down on red tape

[webfact]

ONE-STOP SERVICE
New law to help cut down on red tape
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- In a move to cut down on red tape and offer "one-stop service", the National Legislative Assembly has passed a law that shortens the procedure for getting government approvals and licences. The law will be enforced in July, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday.

Under the law, government agencies are required to set up clear procedures for granting approvals or licences requested by people, he said. "We hope this will get rid of unnecessary bureaucracy and every government unit will be able to tell people how long it will take for their requests to be approved or their licences to come through," Wissanu told reporters.

There are as many as 800 laws requiring people to have government approvals or a licence for certain activities concerning their livelihood or business, but the related government agencies have no clear procedures or information on how long the process will take, he noted.

The 18 Article law, which was announced in the Royal Gazette on January 22, requires all ministries, provincial authorities and agencies, including those at the local administrative level, to create handbooks providing clear information on the work timeline and procedure for granting approval and licences.

"The handbook must say clearly how long it will take for the approval and which unit and who in the unit is responsible for these matters," he said. Agencies or officials who fail to comply with the handbook will be punished, he said.

Article 10 of the law says that people have the right to know when their request will be approved and officials are obliged to keep them regularly updated on the progress.

"If the approval is delayed, agencies or officials are required to inform the applicant of the progress every seven days," it says.

The law also encourages government agencies to coordinate and cooperate to provide "one-stop services" to the people, he said.

"For instance, a mining licence would require an approval from the Industry Ministry as well as the Resource and Environment Ministry among others," he said.

This law does not apply to licences or approvals for projects involving natural resources and environment.

Pong-ard Treekitvatanakul, deputy secretary-general of the Public Sector Development Commission, said the commission was working with government agencies to have them improve their service before the law is implemented in the next 180 days.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/New-law-to-help-cut-down-on-red-tape-30253448.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-05

[KhunMoo]

Haha! Now there is something, I would like to see first, before i believe it.


If there is one thing, Thailand excels at its red tape! The amount of time I have wasted, because of crazy bureaucracy, corruption, and lack of proper education....oh my.

[greenchair]

I hope the handbooks are in English. And every office at the umpur has one. They are always making up their own interpretation of the law, only to find out at another umpur it wasn't a law at all.

This is a really positive step. It will also stop government workers delaying someone's licence just because they are having a bad day. And no more paying that under the table money to oil the wheels.

[PepperMe]

Wow.... A Law?

So if they do not deliver on time we can have them arrested?

[oneday]

Let's see, here is a new list of approval times...

100 - one year or more for approval.

500 - you are slightly warm, 6 months or so

1000 - now you are cooking, 1 month and a day or two.

5000 and a bottle of whiskey - Can you take a seat? We will have it for you in 5 minutes!

[Valentine]

A positive step. I wonder just how many other laws are outdated, superfluous & generally not fit for the 21st century.

[h90]

how about cutting these 800 laws down to 250 laws...import license for this and that...why?

sell alcohol license? Why

etc etc etc

reduce bureaucracy, having less people pushing paper also reduces the tax burden of the working people.

Instead they should check that you pay the tax correctly.

[madmitch]

A positive step. I wonder just how many other laws are outdated, superfluous & generally not fit for the 21st century.

Probably hundreds but this isn't just something that applies to Thailand.

[noitom]

Thais have no clear process or roadmap because everything operates on the "payoff" principle. Cash under the table clears the red tape in Thailand. That's the way the system works. Thais sold out a long time ago.

[yogavnture]

sorry this off topicmaybe u can move to right topic.if Thailand would give foreigners a 6 month multientry visa for a certain fee I would spend more time here. and in neighboring countries..........maybe thai Vietnam and other countries could coodinate it so people could freely go to country to country. when I buy a 2 entry visa I don't come to Thailand as much because idont want to use them up

[angiolo]

red tape....what is the alternative colour. >

[diehard60]

OK. this is more red tape to govern the red tape.

[binjalin]

A friend of mine, who is familiar with this proposal, outlined the process:

step 1: the idea will go to the 'committee for new ideas'

step 2: then it will be delegated to a sub-committee for reform

step 3: discussion for a few years after which it may go back to the original committee

step 4: it then goes to the NLA

step 5: they review for no longer then a parliamentary session (about 3 years)

step 6: if they approve it they go ask the 'good general'

[Lupatria]

I doubt it will ever cut the beloved Thainess-procedure of: "You want express lane? You pay extra!"

Edited February 5, 2015 by Lupatria

[NoshowJones]

I hope the handbooks are in English. And every office at the umpur has one. They are always making up their own interpretation of the law, only to find out at another umpur it wasn't a law at all.

This is a really positive step. It will also stop government workers delaying someone's licence just because they are having a bad day. And no more paying that under the table money to oil the wheels.

What they need to do first of all is make sure all the Ampur and other Government offices, ie Immigation etc, stop making up their own rules, and have the rules made out for them, then we will all know where we stand.

[h90]

sorry this off topicmaybe u can move to right topic.if Thailand would give foreigners a 6 month multientry visa for a certain fee I would spend more time here. and in neighboring countries..........maybe thai Vietnam and other countries could coodinate it so people could freely go to country to country. when I buy a 2 entry visa I don't come to Thailand as much because idont want to use them up

just think for the work permit....Lets pay some annual fee and pay the income tax and cut away all the other stupid bureaucracy....

[greenchair]

I hope the handbooks are in English. And every office at the umpur has one. They are always making up their own interpretation of the law, only to find out at another umpur it wasn't a law at all.

This is a really positive step. It will also stop government workers delaying someone's licence just because they are having a bad day. And no more paying that under the table money to oil the wheels.

What they need to do first of all is make sure all the Ampur and other Government offices, ie Immigation etc, stop making up their own rules, and have the rules made out for them, then we will all know where we stand.

That's what I just said. ?

[NoshowJones]

A positive step. I wonder just how many other laws are outdated, superfluous & generally not fit for the 21st century.

Probably hundreds but this isn't just something that applies to Thailand.

It definitely applies to the UK. Your avatar looks very familiar, is it one of the immigration officers?

[Longstaff]

A law to reduce bureaucracy.....an oxymoron if ever there was!

[Toknarok]

[soalbundy]

A law to reduce bureaucracy.....an oxymoron if ever there was!

No it isn't,we have the new committee formed to prove it

[mrwebb8825]

"For instance, a mining licence would require an approval from the Industry Ministry as well as the Resource and Environment Ministry among others," he said.

This law does not apply to licences or approvals for projects involving natural resources and environment.

So, if they can't even explain what they are trying to do, how on earth will they ever do it. Pretty sure I've never seen a man-made products mine before.

[Dah fahrang]

A positive step. I wonder just how many other laws are outdated, superfluous & generally not fit for the 21st century.

90 Day Reporting, for starters.

[tso310]

Now the generals are in charge I suppose it will be yellow tape.

[trainman34014]

There is always a fast way to get what's needed....just increase the size of the wad in the brown envelope.

[Phuketboy]

Hahaha, well I have been waiting over 1 year for one particular licence, at present we are still operating on a temporary one. The problem is that everything has to be approved from Bangkok instead of each provence being able to make their own approvals. To set up company back home took 1 day, to set up the first company here took 3 months, the second one took 4 months by the time they have finished juggling paperwork, photos, making multiple copies etc etc. Let's hope they can pull it all together.

[MaiChai]

I can see what this is about: if you dont pay a bribe, your application does not move forward. If there are set times for processing something then there is no need to pay the bribe to get things moving? This is about trying to stop corruption.