The National Legislative Assembly is considering a proposal to restructure or disband local administrative bodies to solve the problem of overlapping duties.
The proposal, which was put forward by the NLA’s committee on local administration, raises a number of sensitive questions including whether to scrap the decades-old provincial administration organisations (PAOs). The issues could be discussed by the NLA or left for the next government.
NLA chairman Pornpetch Wichitcholchai will now decide whether to forward the proposal to the cabinet or other agencies for further consideration, said committee chairman Banyat Chansena.
Mr Banyat said better management of officials was needed at the local administrative levels, from provinces to towns and tambons, which are made up of villages. He said there were “too many local agencies” such as municipalities and tambon administration organisations (TAOs), in addition to PAOs.
Some of their work overlaps, leading to questions about the scope of responsibility.
The committee has proposed that TAOs become municipalities. Those found to cover fewer than 2,000 people should be merged with other municipalities.
The situation with PAOs was more difficult and the committee has only prepared information for the government to decide on whether to disband them.
PAOs are responsible for large-scale and high-budget development projects or projects that cover areas overseen by different administrative bodies. If PAOs are scrapped, provincial governors will take over their responsibility, Mr Banyat said.
Opinion is divided among experts and officials over local administration reforms. Some seek more effective management while others shed doubt on whether change will affect decentralisation, which will allow villagers to decide who runs their villages.
The heads and members of TAOs and PAOs are elected and work alongside state officials, including provincial governors, appointed by the government.
Yet there are still flaws in decentralised administration, the committee said. Villagers have to go through a complicated process to impeach heads and members of local administrative bodies.
Meanwhile, the National Reform Council will tomorrow consider a proposal by its committee on social reforms to ask the government to enforce a decree that encourages business operators to help develop their communities into self-sustaining entities. The proposal also aims to “reduce the patronage system", said committee chairman Amphon Chindawatthana.