Supawadee Susanpoolthong

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) employs more than 90,000 officials from 50 district offices covering a 1,568 square kilometre area, with a budget of more than 20 billion baht.

``This is a very large local administration body, larger than several ministries. But its management is tightly centralised, which causes problems in delivering services,'' Mr Nakharin said.

Mr Nakharin said the BMA could not afford not to carry out restructuring, which was time-consuming and expensive. Any change did not need to be completed within the four-year term of the governor. Bangkok should use a two-tier administration system, with the headquarters at city hall overseen by the governor and about 10-12 municipalities or administrative zones.

Each municipality, with an elected mayor, would take care of 500,000-600,000 people with a budget allocated by BMA. The mayors also could attend district council meetings. This structure would increase efficiency and improve services, he said.

Mr Nakharin said contenders for the Bangkok governor's post should tell voters whether they were satisfied with the present administrative structure. They may have to begin educating people about a two-tier system and how the changes could benefit the city.