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Govt opens centre on state services
MARISA ISHIKAWA,
ANAPAT DEECHUAY
THE NATION


Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha chairs a launch

IT PROVIDES DETAILS ON LICENSING, WILL TAKE COMPLAINTS; AIMS TO RESTORE PUBLIC FAITH

BANGKOK: -- A CENTRE was set up yesterday to help speed up service for the public by state agencies.

The government declared the move a big step for bureaucratic reform. It followed the Licensing Facilitation Act, which came into force yesterday.

Situated at the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, opposite Government House, the centre was opened to handle services such as licensing details and complaints about state agencies.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said at the opening the centre's roles and duties were - firstly, to be a coordinator between state agencies and citizens; secondly, to receive complaints and facilitate the alleviation of problems; and lastly, it should be "a coach" for state agencies in adapting to the newly applied law.

Wissanu noted that the Act needed support from all sectors of society, including the private sector, citizens and state agencies, as it will bring about a new vision of state agencies' work. "This Act will provide citizens with convenience in dealing with the state - and it will reduce corruption from its origin," he said.

Early yesterday, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha launched a new website - www.info.go.th - to help the public to get information, especially details on how to apply for official documents.

The "information centre" website was introduced along with an official contact handbook, with information on all state agencies, including the official hotline 1111 extension 22.

During his opening remarks, Prayut said that government agencies had tried their best to provide service with speed, accuracy and transparency for the people. He urged the public to cooperate and attentively and calmly wait for improvements.

Wissanu said as people in the past had to buy convenience and fast service, from now services would be provided with quality and be equally effective.

State agencies must strictly follow steps laid out in the licensing manual for the public too. Above all, this law would lead to a long lost "good attitude" toward Thailand's state agencies, he said.

Apart from the centre, small one-stop-services and public agencies are also opening up to provide service. The service is reachable not only by going to the centre, but also via www.info.go.th and hotline of 1111, extension 22.

Narathorn Parndee, an official at Public Sector Development and the centre, demonstrated how to use "www.info.go.th" for a licensing manual available to the public. At the website, the clear rules, procedure, conditions and period of time in granting licences are stated, as well as lists of what is needed for people wanting documents.

On the website, the Licensing Facilitation Act is free to download in PDF file and the application of the new law is simply explained.

When asked about an English version of the website, Narathorn said that because of restricted time (180 days) they were only able to get information for about 40,000 public agencies in Thai. However, an English version would be coming soon, starting first from areas relevant to foreigners, such as investment.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Govt-opens-centre-on-state-services-30264949.html


-- The Nation 2015-07-22

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Hey Thai government...

How about an English version of the official licensing/permits rules and eligibility/document requirements for THAI IMMIGRATION that the law will require Immigration to abide by???

Now that would be something very relevant to "foreigners".

[Orac]

So they are creating a whole new level of bureaucracy to help people deal with the bureaucracy below it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Had an episode lately where my Thai wife wanted to complain to the Thai police about a police-performance related issue...and was trying to figure out who/where to contact in RTP.

Trying to help her, I figured I'd call the Govt.'s 1111 hotline to look for some direction. After all, I was pretty sure I'd recalled reading about some kind of Thai police ombudsman or complaint center in the past.

Got a somewhat English speaking rep who answered on the 1111 hotline, explained what I needed in the way of a Police Complaints hotline or center, and the lady was clueless and didn't apparently understand the meaning of the term "complaint". So, she put me on hold for a while, and finally came back with just a generic Thai Police 4-digit hotline number...

Not what I asked for or needed, and I told the 1111 lady I was concerned the main RTP hotline number would not have an English speaker. But she assured me they would.

OK... Called that, got a woman who claimed she could speak English, when I opened the conversation by asking her in Thai if she could. As it turned out, she couldn't, not at all, or, to be kind, perhaps less than kindergarden level English. And, in the end, she got ANGRY at me over the phone for me telling her in Thai that I couldn't understand her English (even though I was absolutely polite with her), and she refused to transfer me to anyone else.

All I can say is, I hope this latest venture into making Thai government agencies of better service to the public works better than the past efforts have.

Edited July 22, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK