Approaching a Model and Direction of Decentralization for Governor Elections in a Transitional Era

Thailand has over 7,000 local government organizations established in various forms and levels, e.g. provincial administrative organizations, sub-district administrative organizations, municipalities, or even special autonomous cities like Bangkok and Pattaya. In details, however, the structure and the actual administrative process are not quite correlate. The Chief Executives and Council Members of local government organizations come directly from the local elections, but they are still overseen by civil servants who are assigned by the central government as governors of provinces. The budget approval, inspection of the overall administration, and even dismissal of the local government chiefs are authorized by the governors. As a result, it has gradually raised questions and awareness on improvement of Thailand’s decentralization since, in fact, there are many organic laws in the sections both on state policy and local administration, stipulating that the provinces are ready to be entirely administered by local governments.