Untitled Document

		Everything's under control


		What sort of problems or difficulties have you encountered in your first year as the Bangkok governor? here were no problems. Everything is under control. So far, I enjoy doing my job very much. How would you describe the city governor's work? The governor is a local politician who works mainly at the policy level, not on the implementation level. That's why people hardly see me wading in the floods or dredging sewers. This kind of job does not belong to the administrators, only to permanent city officials and city employees. An appearance by the city governor in such places is ridiculous because the governor cannot stop the rain and the floods would remain for a while anyway. The city has already assigned authorities to supervise each task. I've pledged to avoid interfering in officials' routine work although I expect them to be aware of their job description and able to handle Bangkok's problems on their own initiative. I don't mind being criticised for concentrating only on routine work because routines are exactly what the city governor should be doing. My team of four deputies, four advisers, one secretary and myself have devoted ourselves to doing routine jobs, such as signing documents. We are not politicians or "the Samak gang" who walk around City Hall, threatening city officials and ordering them around. The Bangkok governor also has to work closely with the city council. My four deputies and I have an important role in listening to councillors and relaying their recommendations or needs to city officials. At the same time, I have to defend BMA staff and explain our jobs to the council. There may not be many tangible projects in my first year, but I'm sure that the 20,000 city officials, 50,000 employees and 60 city councillors are happy working with me. They even dared to defend me when I was criticised. I think they like me because I have re-established the old working style which allows them to perform their routine jobs without intervention from advisers and myself . Is it possible that officials could become sluggish because they are expected to only tend to routine procedures? No, because I often meet them in person, talk to them and listen to their problems. Do you monitor and assess the work performance of city hall officials? Monitoring and assessment are conducted by the senior officers, who report to me and the city clerk. However, as part of my personnel monitoring scheme, I often visit district offices unannounced. The deputy governors are asked to report their work to me weekly. Why are you hardly ever in the news? Because I don't want to be. Getting in front of a camera might be desirable for a governor who wishes to be popular, but for me, it is unnecessary because I am already famous. I don't like to be surrounded by reporters. I don't give them food at lunch. I don't try to catch the media's eye by pretending to be a hard-working governor, wearing boots, wading in water and trying to drain the floods. I prefer working behind the scenes, which is much more effective. However, I have already published a book about what I have done in my first year. I think it is better than answering questions from the media repeatedly throughout the year. Don't you think that avoiding publicity will affect your deputies because they are not as famous as you? My deputies also do not care about popularity. They are not egotistical people. So being famous means nothing to them. The BMA depends on the police to control traffic and fight crime which does not always go the way it should. Do you think the BMA should have its own police force? The BMA has insufficient facilities to supervise the police and I think it is better to have various government agencies help oversee the city. In fact, the BMA has nothing much to do with the task of running Bangkok except keeping it clean and tidy. Most of the work has been taken care of by other government agencies, such as the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Metropolitan Police Bureau. So the only duty under the BMA is trying to maintain good co-operationbetween these agencies because the BMA is the front-line organisation that Bangkokians blame for any discomfort. Some critics and academics have criticised you for having little regard for public participation, for example controversial projects such as the Sanam Luang underground car park and the contemporary art centre. I would let the public criticise the projects, but they must listen to me first because I am the project developer. After project feasibility studies are completed, I give them 120 days to express their views. In fact, the only agency I have to ask for comments about the underground car park project is the Committee for Conservation and Development of Krung Rattanakosin and Old Towns, because it has the authority to decide whether the BMA should proceed with the project. I wonder why some Bangkokians keep demanding participation in the city's management even though Bangkok has a governor, deputy governors and many city officials to handle its problems. The citizens' only duty is to vote. After that, they should let elected people perform their duties independently. However, my colleagues and I will listen to criticism. I'm afraid our society would be under-developed if the authorities had to listen to every person's opinion. Malaysia and Singapore are far more developed than Thailand because their governments develop projects without public hearings. Although I would not oppose project developers who want to organise public hearings, I would not do it myself. I'm also dissatisfied with our constitution, which was widely known as the "people's version," because it gives the public a chance to scrap any project they don't like. For example, if local people disagree with the BMA's pedestrian bridge project, they could file a case against the BMA at the Administrative Court. If the court agrees, the BMA would be forbidden from building it. I can say that Thai society could be in chaos because of this constitution. Do you think standing for office as Bangkok governor was the right decision to make? Yes, it was absolutely right. I realised that I would certainly lose in the last election because I am not a vote-buying candidate like others. So, I'm happy that I decided to compete in the governor's poll. Do you think standing for office as Bangkok governor was the right decision to make? Yes, it was absolutely right. I realised that I would certainly lose in the last election because I am not a vote-buying candidate like others. So, I'm happy that I decided to compete in the Bangkok governor's election Do you have any weak points that you wish to improve upon in your second year in city hall? Am I doing anything bad at the moment? I would not criticise myself. It is the public's job to comment on the governor's performance.


	Traffic / Transportation	Pollution
	Rubbish ' Toxic waste	City aesthetics
	Education	Public health / Sanitation
	Street vendors	Comparison
	What the critics say	Content with thinking up big projects
	Every thing's under control	Bangkokians express their opinions
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