Court. “Governance” principles felt victim to the political supremacy and
manipulation skills of Thaksin. Bureaucrats who are regarded as being disloyal to
Thaksin have been harshly and unfairly treated by members of some new
accountability mechanisms such as the national counter corruption commission and in
particular by the new government-controlled mechanisms such as the Anti-Money
Laundering Office and the Department of Special Investigation.
Another interesting rhetorical reform policy is the principle of a smaller government.
Under the new wave of administrative reform principles, all liberal democracies are
likely to support the policy of a smaller government (Bowornwathana, 2006a). Newly
elected governments usually profess the policy of streamlining the bureaucracy. Since
a smaller government means the reduction of government size, personnel and budget
cuts, such reform decisions are not popular among bureaucrats and politicians. A
smaller government not only reduces the power of affected bureaucrats, it can also
reduce the overall power of the politicians in power. Less ministries and government
agencies also mean that the Prime Minister and cabinet members have less “land to
rule.” Nevertheless, this general rule is by-passed by relevant politicians and
bureaucrats under the condition that “the cut” can provide specific benefits to them.
For example, in Thailand, privatization of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PAT)
was carried out because cabinet members, their relatives and friends made huge
profits by being granted special privileges in acquiring the PAT shares at a low price.
At the same time, all PAT officials, from members of the Board and the CEO to the
company drivers were handsomely rewarded with free and low-cost PAT shares. The
case of PAT privatization was a win-win situation for politicians and bureaucrats.