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CONSTITUTION WATCH
New provision gives people a role in local administration
KRIS BHROMSUTHI
THE NATION

MOVE IS PART OF DRAFTERS' AGENDA TO GET CITIZENS MORE POLITICALLY ENGAGED; NO SIGNS OF PAO-TAO MERGER

BANGKOK: -- THE CONSTITUTION Drafting Committee (CDC) yesterday came up with a new provision that allows citizens or local communities to contribute to and support their local administrative organisations.

This is part of the charter drafters' initiative to create opportunities for people to become more politically engaged in local affairs.

Yesterday marked the first day of drafting charter provisions on decentralisation of power and empowering local administrative organisations.

Over the past few weeks, there has been strong opposition to speculation that the CDC may merge provincial administrative organisations (PAOs) with tambon administrative organisations (TAOs).

Both organisations, consisting of elected officials, are part of the local administration.

The PAO is responsible for approving budget requests and allocating funds it receives from the central government to the TAOs under its jurisdiction.

The TAOs, meanwhile, are responsible for providing public services such as education, transport, water supply and healthcare to local residents.

The CDC's new provision creates a support mechanism for the work of local administrative organisations allowing them to "outsource" some of their work to local volunteers.

The article states that "the provision of public services by a community or people can be done if they are able to meet the standard of welfare that is provided by local administrative organisations, then those communities or people can have such responsibilities regulated by local administrative organisations".

The article also renames the "local governing organisations" as "local administrative organisations" in order to make the nature of its work clearer, CDC spokesman Lertrat Ratanavanich said.

This provision is considered to be the CDC's attempt to separate clearly the scope of responsibilities between local administrative organisations and provincial governors and district chiefs, who come under the Interior Ministry's jurisdiction.

The administrative organisations' main responsibility is to "administer", such as providing public services, while the governors and tambon chiefs' duty is to "govern", for example, overseeing local security affairs.

The tasks of local administrative organisations are seen as overlapping with the Interior Ministry's Department of Administration, where it provides "regional administration" in the form of provincial governors and tambon chiefs, all of whom are appointed public officials.

A tambon chief, who is under the jurisdiction of the provincial governor, is responsible for overseeing the district's security affairs, implementing the policy initiated by the central government or provincial governors and attending local events.

Yet many of them are still overseeing administrative and budget allocation affairs.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/New-provision-gives-people-a-role-in-local-adminis-30253507.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-06

[Lupatria]

New provision gives people a role in local administration…

…unless they live next to gold mines, and other health and environment threatening facilities owned by influential figures.

[smutcakes]

Would of been better to involve them at the start of the process rather than the end.

[hawker9000]

Yes, 'sounds great, and it would be, but...

I know of a community college district in California where ... The constituents voted to tax themselves (I know it sounds odd, but Californians just love to pay taxes) to improve and have a superior community college, and it was. Then the liberals in the state capital came along and pointed out that this was unfair and unjust, and that all students throughout the state had the right to equal educational opportunity. So guess what? The state government began scarfing up "its share" of the community college tax revenue from this district to spend elsewhere. The residents of this district, in the end, succeeded in levying an extra local tax on themselves, that other citizens in other tax districts don't pay, only to have big brother come lumbering along and grab it to spend elsewhere, in the name of equality. What a great incentive for community involvement and self-"administration"! See what can happen?

Local administration (which I'm all in favor of) should come ALONG WITH a transfer or handover of power from the central government TO IT. Simply creating new authorities ends up just putting a new burden on citizens, which central governments horn in on when it suits them, and doesn't end well.

Edited February 8, 2015 by hawker9000