Thai Case Research Articles

Government management of tourism — a Thai case study

This article examines the relationship between government and the tourism industry and the problems of that relationship as both strive for more effective management to meet the challenge and changes of the 1980s. Attention is focused on the role of government and the political input, the tourism management agency, the government administrative system, the industry, and the response of these various groups to demands on the tourism sector. The article concentrates on Thailand but many problems experienced are common to most countries and arise from the nature and role of government and the tourism industry and their relationship.

Decentralization as a Management and Development Strategy: A Thai Case Study

Decentralization as a Management and Development Strategy: A Thai Case Study

Empirical indicators of educational equity and equality: A thai case study

The focus of this paper is social indicator reporting, not the development of scientific generalization. This social indicator analysis involves the development of an extensive set of empirical indicators to show the extent of equity and equality of education. Equity and equality are viewed as distinct concepts, each with its own indicators. The set of indicators proposed is applied to Thailand in a case study. Examples of indicators used are (1) the relationship between socioeconomic background and access to preschool education, (2) the relationship between provincial wealth and opportunities for upper primary education, (3) proportion of females in lower primary schools, and (4) degree of equality among provinces in grant per pupil in primary education. The discrepancy ratio is introduced as an indicator to standardize measures of inequality and inequity. This set of indicators shows moderate levels of inequality and inequity in Thailand, with the most serious problems at the preschool, secondary, and higher education levels. Empirical indicators of this type are viewed as critically necessary for governments everywhere to enable them to chart their progress toward greater equity and equality.

Legal Aspects of Human Rights: The Thai Case

Legal Aspects of Human Rights: The Thai Case

The Politics of Intergovernmental Relations in Thailand

THIS PAPER EXAMINES intergovernmental relations in Thailand by focusing on the linkages between the central government and 118 municipal government units. While the concept of intergovernmental relations usually refers to relationships among relatively autonomous units of government within federal systems, here it refers to relationships among central and local governmental units within a unitary system. This usage not only relates the Thai case to general theories of intergovernmental relations, but it also raises some new questions and provides a useful framework for analyzing data heretofore absent in the literature on Thai politics and administration. Intergovernmental relations are political. They determine who gets what, when, and how; they center on the competition for power, influence, and authority; and they generate and resolve conflicts over important group and societal values. Consequently, understanding intergovernmental relations in Thailand also requires understanding the political behavior of key actors involved in central-local interactions. This essay attempts to contribute to such an understanding. It begins by analyzing the political and administrative origins, ambiguities, and strategies of intergovernmental relations in reference to the behavior of Thai officials. Based upon this analysis, it concludes that Thai intergovernmental relations are characterized by continuous central administrative leveling of local political processes. Viewed from the perspectives of high-level administrators, central government strategies are expected to create greater stability and predictability in intergovernmental relations. These strategies are aimed at dominating local

Competing Hypotheses of Underdevelopment: A Thai Case Study

This paper will test three models of underdevelopment against the experience of Thailand from 1850 to 1940, when Thailand became a major rice exporter. The models are a dependency model, a staples model, and a supply and demand model of technical and institutional change. The technical and institutional change model provides the best explanation. Divergences between the goals of national security and economic development as well as those between the private interests of the elite decision makers and the social interest explain Thai underinvestment in increasing agricultural productivity and account in large part for the persistence of underdevelopment.