Reform and Decentralization of Thailand's Government Stalled, Says Academic by Phairath Khampha 30 October 2001 Thailand's bureaucratic reform is not working because central state agencies were reluctant to transfer power to local administrative bodies, a member of the reform panel said on October 28, 2001. Assoc Prof Thanet Charoenmuang, of Chiang Mai University's Social Science Faculty, said reform was being monopolised by the central government, which only listened to bureaucrats because they were protecting their own vested interests or those of cronies. Mr Thanet sits on a government sub-committee on bureaucratic reform chaired by Prime Minister's Office Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng. He also said education reform was going nowhere and urged Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to stop listening to near-sighted officials and to kick- start the process. He said the bureaucracy was too big and cumbersome and power rested solely with central authorities. It would hamper the social, political and economic development of the country, he said. The 1932 revolution, which ended absolute monarchy, failed to reduce the power of the centralised government, he said, and just made the system more complicated. The creation of the regional administration system gave more power to ministries instead of decentralising power to local bodies. None of the central agencies wanted to make themselves smaller because they feared their budget allocation and power would be reduced. "Bureaucratic reform is how we decentralise power to local administrative bodies. But all governments ignore it," Mr Thanet said. "They simply do everything for political and personal gain. They won't review the bureaucratic system for fear of upsetting bureaucrats and losing their political support." He suggested the government strengthen communities to give local bodies a more active role in managing local affairs and natural resources. The government should invite outsiders to take part in bureaucratic reform rather than leaving the task to bureaucrats. "A bureaucratic reform panel is set up every year and a huge sum of money is spent for this purpose. Each panel mostly comprises bureaucrats," he said. "This is the weakness in the reform process, as those people don't want to make any changes to reduce their power, especially the Civil Service Commission. "Non-partisan individuals should be invited to sit on the reform panel. Power decentralisation and bureaucratic reform are the same thing." "The prime minister must push for reform in the interests of transparency," the academic said. He accused ministries of dragging their feet in transferring their power to local bodies and blamed the slow progress of education reform on University Affairs Minister Sutham Saengprathum and Education Minister Suvit Khunkitti. They did not understand the reform process while the prime minister only understood some aspects of it. "The prime minister seems to believe everything the Civil Service Commission says. Reform will move backwards if he listens only to the commission," he said. The October 26 workshop on bureaucratic reform was just a government tactic to delay the reform process. Nothing new would be covered at the workshop, he said. It would focus on new ministries and loans from which the bureaucrats, government officials and politicians would try to find ways to siphon the monies. "We must wonder what is wrong with the reform process if old topics and discussions crop up at the workshop," he said. "I had high hopes in Mr Thaksin's ability to cut through bureaucratic red tape but nothing has been done during his eight-month tenure." "Friday's [October 26] workshop may be a victory for bureaucrats who don't want to decentralise power," Mr Thanet said. The prime minister should sample public opinion on bureaucratic reform, he said.