If our nation state were a computer, the bureaucracy would be an operating system too outdated to keep up with the magnitude of Thailand's modern-day challenges.
Its archaic architecture cannot cope with the avalanche of big data and disruptive technological advances. The software is too outmoded, the memory too small and the speed too slow, which makes the system vulnerable to crashes.
With an obsolete operating system and software, Thailand as a bureaucratic state becomes unresponsive, ridden with outdated, burdensome laws, and is also prone to serious policy mistakes.
The repercussions are severe: low growth, inequalities, environmental degradation, and political instability without rule of law.
This operating system urgently needs upgrading. Thailand urgently needs to reform the whole bureaucracy because how it operates determines the country's competency and competitiveness. It determines the country's future.
For the country to survive in the fiercely competitive global arena, for the young generations to have some sort of hope in their future, Thailand has no choice but to reform its bureaucracy.
This is why the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) chose "Hacking the Bureaucratic System, Changing Thailand's Operating System" as the theme of our 2020 annual conference last week.
Towards reform, however, we need to know where the present state of Thai bureaucracy is, where things go wrong, what kind of state we want, and how best to move the country forward.
Some may argue that the Thai state is already highly efficient, judging from its spectacular success to protect the country from the global Covid-19 pandemic.
True, Thailand's strong public health sector has been key to the country's successful containment of Covid-19. But equally important is all-out cooperation from the citizenry despite the difficulties they must face. But of course, the decision of national leaders to allow public health experts to take centre stage cannot be dismissed.
The country has also avoided an economic collapse from the pandemic amid the world's worst recession. Credit must be given to the country's strong macroeconomic policies, managed by the Bank of Thailand and the Ministry of Finance.
Yet, we must admit that the Thai state lacks competency in many other areas.
A simple test is eye-opening. One research project tested the competencies of 159 countries by sending them 10 letters with false addresses which should be returned to senders within 30 days, according to the Universal Postal Union agreement. Thailand returned only two letters, one of which took over 90 days to reach the sender.
The competency of different state agencies also varies. Out of a score of 100, the Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) gives 90 to the country's macro-economy (administered by the Bank of Thailand and the Finance Ministry), 89 to public health (the Public Health Ministry), 62 to skills (Education and Labour ministries), and only 55 to institutions (bureaucratic and legal systems). Thailand overall gets only 68.
Our research, meanwhile, shows the government has a high competency in public infrastructure and poverty alleviation. Its score on anti-monopoly is slightly above average while its performance on environmental protection is well below average.
For wealth distribution, however, Thailand gets a score of only 14 out of 100. Not surprising since Thailand's wealth gap and inequality are among the worst in the world.
Overall, Thai bureaucracy is fairly competent, but not enough to help the country cope with future challenges. According to the International Country Risk Guide's indicator, Thailand's quality of government is also rapidly declining, already overtaken by Vietnam given its better-performing bureaucracy and better law enforcement.
Thailand's bureaucracy weakness does not stem from a lack of financial resources. The crux of the problem is its inefficiency.
The government has money to expand extensive road networks, but road accidents remain among the highest in the world.
The biggest chunk of the national budget goes to the Education Ministry, but the quality of the educational system is not only lagging far behind international standards but has worsened over the years.
According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test of 2018, 45% of Thailand's 15-year-olds are "functionally illiterate" in science, 53% in mathematics, and 60% in reading.
During the pandemic, the government had the money for handouts due to its low public debt. But the money didn't reach many in need as the process was and is ridden with bureaucratic red tape.
Getting out of the middle-income trap has been the goal of successive Thai governments. Statistics show, however, that only 13 out of 101 countries could attain such goals. All of them have competent governments.
It is becoming more common for competent governments in many countries to seek to better understand the needs of their citizens by investing extensively in behavioural science and data analytics.
Around the world, more than 200 state agencies have set up "behavioural nudge units" to improve their efficiency, from tax collection, organ donation, job placement, CO2 reduction, to healthcare services.
Predictive data analytics also helps state agencies see potential risks in their line of work, which helps them to prevent tax evasion, crimes, and accidents, to name just a few.
Incompetent governments, meanwhile, do not know their people, nor understand incidents that have already happened. Knowledge is power, but the static bureaucracy does not have the necessary data for competent decision-making.
The interface system is also poor, both among state agencies themselves, and between the state agencies and the public, making it burdensome for the public to navigate the red tape labyrinth. Often, the problems explode and the system crashes.
We need to fix the bureaucracy not only to increase state competency but also to empower civil society and citizens.
Four things need to happen immediately to save the country:
1. Bureaucratic reform for more efficiency and responsiveness. 2. Legal reform for inclusive laws that are just, cost-effective, and adaptable to change. 3. Information system reform for better public services and efficient decision-making. 4. An interface system overhaul for a better understanding of people's needs in order to improve public services and collaborate more with civil society for common goals.
It takes a strong political system to achieve this tall order.
The country needs a new direction. We need new inclusive rules. That is why we must start by creating a new, inclusive constitution.
No need to start from scratch, however. The 1997 People's Charter already provides a good basis for a strong government. The new constitution, however, needs to have a stronger system of checks and balances to prevent abuse of power.
This can be done by increasing people's participation at every level of state governing. In parliament, elected representatives should have more authority to monitor the government. As part of direct democracy, the public must be able to sponsor laws and scrutinise those in public office. Decentralisation should also be expanded further after suffering a setback for several years during the military regime.
Meanwhile, the new charter should curtail the excessive power of the judiciary and so-called independent organisations, allowing them to scrutinise the executive branch only when it involves grave violations of the law.
Equally important, the new charter must endorse the roles of the media and civil society to monitor and scrutinise the government.
At present, the government has the raw power to harass dissenters and violate the citizens' rights and freedoms. Yet it fails miserably to solve the country's problems.
If this continues, Thailand will not get out of the middle-income trap, nor reduce road deaths, nor bridge disparity, nor fulfil its basic duty of helping the weak and poor effectively.
If the inefficiency continues, forget about state capacity to cope with the more complex challenges that come with an ageing society, the digital revolution, and climate change.
We must fix the country's obsolete operating system. We must reform the bureaucracy if we want to give our country and our children a chance.