Red tape, a patronage system and low salaries are the top reasons that most civil servants are fed up with the Thai bureaucracy, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on Mar 14-18 by telephone interviews with 1,310 civil servants and state-owned enterprise workers aged between 18 and over 60 of various levels of education, salaries, and marital status throughout the country. The respondents were allowed to give more than one answer when asked what causes them to feel frustrated with the country's bureaucratic system. The answers varied as follows:
39.47% numerous complicated work procedures
31.53% a patronage system
28.24% low salaries
22.44% numerous key performance indicators
20.38% the bureaucratic structure and chain of command
18.93% unsystematic work coordination
17.02% competition for recognition and key positions
16.49% corruption in the system
16.18% superiors at work
15.73% nothing at all
14.05% colleagues
11.07% window dressing
10.23% interference by influential politicians
8.47% subordinates at work
7.25% tasks that risk breaking the law
6.41% people who don't understand the bureaucratic system and regulations.
When asked about the level of faith the respondents have in the Thai bureaucracy, the answers were as follows:
49.47% relatively high faith
22.52% very high faith
21.53% low faith
6.34% no faith at all
0.14% don't know or not interested
When asked if they want to resign or be transferred to work in other government agencies, the results varied as follows:
63.04% said they did not want to resign or move to other agencies
14.89% wanted to quit their jobs
13.44% wanted to be transferred to other agencies
8.32% wanted to resign or be transferred
0.31% don't know or not interested.