Local Governments In Thailand Research Articles

Local government in Thailand: A way forward

Local government in Thailand: A way forward

The sufficiency economy philosophy as an approach to social innovation: case studies of local governments in Thailand

The late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej formulated the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP). “Sufficiency” means balancing reasonable moderation in production against the need for protection from sudden internal and external shocks. SEP follows the middle path as a guiding principle for all classes of society and government. Knowledge, thoughtfulness, prudence, and ethical integrity are essential to achieve the middle path. This paper explores the use of SEP as a method of social innovation for enhancing delivery of public services and for localizing the process of sustainable development. Such innovative use of SEP is illustrated by three exploratory case studies of local administrative organisations (LAOs) in Thailand. All three LAOs' case studies have mayors with significant entrepreneurial talent useful in teaching entrepreneurial action to their residents, their staff, and other local leaders. Together, these cases show the potential of SEP as a method of bottom up social action and sustainable development. A brief discussion of the wider need for and use of innovation, including social innovations, and underpinning entrepreneurship, is included prior to the Thai case studies. There is also a short section examining similar types of activities to those observed in the cases in the European context by way of comparison.

Local economic development in Thailand

AbstractThailand has witnessed very uneven spatial outcomes of economic policies pursued in the country since the 1970s. This partially resulted from top‐down, place‐based approaches favoring the already prosperous regions. Therefore, in order to bridge the territorial economic divide in the country, an alternative policy framework is needed to promote bottom‐up, place‐based initiatives led by local governments. As a starting point, we surveyed a stratified sample of local governments in Thailand to document and classify their economic development activities using the taxonomy of similar practices found in other countries. We examined how these practices are shaped by local conditions found in various localities.

Can Fiscal Recentralization Strengthen Local Government? The Case of Thailand

ABSTRACT Thailand in 2018 became the latest developing country to impose mandatory rules on its fiscal policy that included a national limit on the accumulation of public debt and direct control of local government budgets. Such fiscal recentralization is generally assumed in the literature on multi-level finance to weaken local economic, fiscal, and policy conditions. Yet a newer emphasis in this literature asserts the potential value of central governments in steering and constraining local governments through public finance. Such central steering may strengthen rather than weaken local governments via fiscal, economic, and policy conditions. In this paper, we use the emergent theory of pro-local fiscal recentralization to examine the initial evidence, as well as the emergent opportunities, for local governments in Thailand. We find grounds for optimism that fiscal recentralization will have positive effects, and identify strategies for local governments to optimize those effects. We conclude with recommendations for research and practice on fiscal recentralization in other developing country contexts.

A Comparative Good Governance Experiences on Local Governments Cope with COVID-19: A Case Studies Between Indonesia and Thailand

: This article aimed to analyzed and compared good governance experiences on local government cope with Covid-19 between Indonesia and Thailand. The methodology of this article was a qualitative approach based on the secondary data from case of local government of Indonesia in Tegal City and Thailand in Chang Puak Sub-district. The finding of this article was in Indonesia case could argued that the effectiveness, openness, and transparency of the government in coping with Covid-19 are the keys to improve the people economy in Tegal City. Also, the administrators Government of Tegal should be responsive to evaluate ineffective methods in preventing the spread of Covid-19 and switch to more effective and efficient ways. In the meantime, in Thailand case, sorely local government could not cope with Covid-19 pandemic, but the cooperated between Thailand Village Health Volunteer and local government were the best operation to stop the Covid-19 outbreak. Moreover, the most foremost hinder in both Thailand and Indonesia were the central government that centralize authority. In Indonesia, the central policy was the obstacle to allow local government acted, while in Thailand the emergency decree was the main hinder for local government management. Finally, both local government in Thailand and Indonesia were struggled and tried to cope with Covid-19 in a right way of good governance track even though they had a limited authority and willing to support their community.

Ethical Climate and Whistleblowing Intentions: Testing the Mediating Roles of Public Service Motivation and Psychological Safety Among Local Government Employees

Local governments in several developing countries are plagued with corruption. This study draws attention to the role of organizational ethical climate in promoting whistleblowing intentions among local government employees and asks whether public service motivation (PSM) and perceptions of psychological safety mediate this relationship. Based on survey data of 365 employees in 40 local governments in Thailand, our multilevel analysis confirms that the relationships between ethical climate and internal and external whistleblowing intentions were indirect. In particular, psychological safety was found to play a mediating role at both the individual and organizational levels of analysis, whereas the mediating role of PSM was observed only at the individual level. The findings also revealed the presence of “collective PSM” at the organizational level, which in turn helped to facilitate external whistleblowing intentions. This research unveils the importance of individual- and organization-level factors in the whistleblowing decision-making process.

GHG evaluation and mitigation planning for low carbon city case study: Dan Sai Municipality

In the era of globalization, the economy has expanded, leading to an increase in population and the growth of the city dramatically. The municipalities as local administrators for the being and the quality of life of people in the city. However, the activities in the city such as fuel consumption of housing and transportation, electricity use, waste management like wastewater and waste produce both direct and indirect greenhouse gases, increasing many impacts of climate change. The concept of “low carbon city” has been applied to local government in Thailand. This research aims to evaluate city's greenhouse gas emissions in a case study of Dan Sai municipality based on the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories guideline (GPC), divided into three scopes are scope 1, direct greenhouse gas emissions, scope 2, indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity use and scope 3, other indirect greenhouse gas emissions. According to the study of the city's greenhouse gas emissions in year 2016, was found that Dan Sai municipality had a greenhouse gas emission of 22,925.66 tCO2eq, equivalent to 5.95 tCO2eq/person/year of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, The amount of greenhouse gas emissions per household is 11.84 tCO2eq/household/year and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per area is 2,999.82 tCO2eq/square kilometer/year. And from the assessing results of the alternative options to reduce greenhouse gases by analyzing the final cost of the three options, that are increasing the number of solar rooftops, increasing the use of household LED bulbs and refining waste management using RDF technology, found that the final cost was −175.48, 87.53 and −61.72 Baht/kgCO2eq, respectively. This project model is a sustainable city developed into a low carbon city in the future.

PENGARUH PIJAT TUI NA TERHADAP STATUS PERTUMBUHAN PADA BALITA DENGAN STATUS KMS T

Satu dari tiga balita mengalami gangguan pertumbuhan (bayi pendek untuk rata-rata usianya / stunted) dan hampir seperlima jumlah balita mengalami mengalami berat badan kurang di bawah standar rata-rata (underweight). (UNICEF, 2011). Penyebab masalah gizi di perkotaan umumnya di sebabkan oleh gangguan penyerapan makanan. Hal ini bisa diatasi dengan pijat Tui Na. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui pengaruh pijat tui na terhadap status pertumbuhan pada balita dengan status KMS T di Kelurahan Wonokromo Surabaya
 Penelitian ini menggunakan Quasi Eksperimental dengan desain after and before with control design. Populasi penelitian ini adalah seluruh balita dengan status KMS T. Sampel diambil dengan simple random sampling, didapatkan besar sampel 26 orang. Waktu penelitian pada februari-Juli 2018. Pijat Tui Na diterapkan berdasarkan standar operasional prosedur (SOP). Lembar observasi digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data secara langsung yang dianalisis dengan menggunakan uji paired t-test dan independent t test.
 Uji analisis pengaruh before – after pijat tui na menggunakan uji paired t-test didapatkan nilai P = 0,019 < α = 0,05 Sedangkan pada kelompok kontrol dan perlakuan menggunakan uji independent t-test dan didapatkan hasil nilai P = 0,065 > α = 0,05. Ada pengaruh pijat tui na terhadap status pertumbuhan pada balita dengan status KMS T. Berdasarkan hal tersebut bidan diharapkan dapat menerapkan pijat Tui Na sebagai salah satu upaya dalam mengatasi status pertumbuhan pada balita dengan status KMS T.

Barriers to Effective Municipal Solid Waste Management in a Rapidly Urbanizing Area in Thailand.

This study focused on determining the barriers to effective municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in a rapidly urbanizing area in Thailand. The Tha Khon Yang Subdistrict Municipality is a representative example of many local governments in Thailand that have been facing MSWM issues. In-depth interviews with individuals and focus groups were conducted with key informants including the municipality staff, residents, and external organizations. The major influences affecting waste management were categorized into six areas: social-cultural, technical, financial, organizational, and legal-political barriers and population growth. SWOT analysis shows both internal and external factors are playing a role in MSWM: There is good policy and a reasonably sufficient budget. However, there is insufficient infrastructure, weak strategic planning, registration, staff capacity, information systems, engagement with programs; and unorganized waste management and fee collection systems. The location of flood prone areas has impacted on location and operation of landfill sites. There is also poor communication between the municipality and residents and a lack of participation in waste separation programs. However, external support from government and the nearby university could provide opportunities to improve the situation. These findings will help inform municipal decision makers, leading to better municipal solid waste management in newly urbanized areas.

The Development of New Revenue Structure of Local Government in Thailand

This research aimed to analyze the present revenue structure of Thai local government organization and to propose ways to improve the revenue structure of Thai local government. The qualitative research methods, including studying the data from documents and administering depth interviews with local administrators, policymakers and local finance experts were employed. Then, the data were synthesized and summarized under the principles of local government and fiscal decentralization. The results revealed that the revenue structure of Thai local government lacked of fiscal autonomy and self-reliance and it was not inconsistent with the principles of local government and fiscal decentralization. The proposals for the development of the new revenue structure of Thai local government included the followings: (1) the revenue structure of Thai local government should be restructured by enacting the laws to determine property tax, habitants tax, environmental tax and motor vehicle fees to be the local taxes collected by the local government. The shared taxes should also be improved. Individual income tax and corporate income tax should be the shared taxes. (2)The concept of tax collection should be changed. In the long run, Thai local government should play a role as the main organization in collecting taxes in their area.

The performance of the environmental management of local governments in Thailand

This study evaluated the performance of the environmental management of local governments (EMLG) in Thailand and examined the relationship between specific management factors (context, input, and process) and output. Data were collected by using questionnaires with 385 local governments consisting of municipalities and sub-district administration organizations (SAOs) selected by multistage sampling and systematic random sampling countrywide. The findings revealed that the performance of the EMLG in Thailand was at a moderate level (x¯ = 3.05, SD = 0.442). The performance of both municipalities (urban areas) and SAOs (rural areas) was at a moderate level. However, the mean score for the overall performance of municipalities (x¯ = 3.18, SD = 0.391) was higher than that of the SAOs (x¯ = 3.00, SD = 0.453). The structural equation model (SEM) analysis indicated a significant relationship (R2 = 0.88) between the context and the outputs (t-test = 7.59, p < .01) and between the inputs and the outputs (t-test = 2.07, p < .05). However, the SEM analysis indicated that there was no significant relationship between the process and the outputs (t-test = 0.40, p > .05). This study suggests four strategies for enhancing the performance of the EMLG: building sustainable culture; environmental learning organization (ELO); decreasing cost and increasing revenue; and precautionary environmental management.

The Roles and Responsibilities in Natural Resources and Environmental Management of Local Government in Thailand

The Roles and Responsibilities in Natural Resources and Environmental Management of Local Government in Thailand

Prototype KPIs for rural infrastructure development

PurposeIt is difficult to manage and measure the effectiveness of infrastructure development efforts of the sub‐district local governments called Tambon Administrative Organizations (TAOs), the lowest level of local governments in Thailand. This paper aims to develop and demonstrate the applicability of key performance indicators (KPIs) based on the integration of balanced scorecard (BSC) and value chain approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe processes of designing KPIs are described with emphasis of how to apply a value chain model into designing BSC's KPIs. Expert focus groups and case studies from various parts of Thailand were conducted to give an insight into the adaptation of the performance measures in infrastructure development of TAOs.FindingsThe application of a value chain model is critical for the design of practical BSC's KPIs because they can be conveniently embedded into existing practices. The case studies of prototype KPIs demonstrate the performance measurement of infrastructure development, which associates executive and operational views with the hierarchy of scorecards.Practical implicationsThe prototype KPIs illustrate a quantifiable measure that the councils and staffs can use to communicate infrastructure development performance for target setting and accomplishment.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the key issue of how to design KPIs based on the balanced scorecard and value chain model. The integration of a value chain framework reflects the delivery process of infrastructure development.

English

This paper describes the process, institutional and legal framework within which the environmental management operates in Thailand. It specifically focuses on the decentralization within central and local government’s role in environmental management. The methods of this research use literature review. The aim of the paper is to examine how interface between the central and local loci of power have affected pieces of legislation relating to management of the environment by central and local government in Thailand.