THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE: A CASE STUDY
Although the basic structure remains unchanged, there have been
numerous changes in detail, involving the proliferation of specialized
units held within the framework of the major ministries. It would certainly
be a tiresome and unrewarding task to seek to trace all of those
many changes, yet it may be helpful to analyze them in a selected
ministry. Partly because of its checkered history, and partly too because
of its developmental functions, I have chosen to concentrate on the
Ministry of Agriculture.
Let us start again at the beginning and examine the scope of the
work of the Krom Na, out'of which the Ministry was initially formed
The History of the Ministry of Agriculture, an official publication
of the Ministry, presents a view of the past strangely colored by contemporary
values. It starts out by describing the policies of the Sukhotai
period, as revealed by the stone inscription of Ram-kam-hang (ca.
1275-1315). It appears that he encouraged his people to cultivate the
land, granting them rights of possession and inheritance over farms
which they cleared. There is evidence that he encouraged the construction
of irrigation works, but beyond this the agricultural policy of
the Sukhotai period remains obscure.
In the Ayuthian period, as we have already indicated, the four
chambers were established, including the Krom Na, or Chamber of
Lands. According to the History, the duty of the Krom Na during the
time of Rama Thibodi I (45oag), founder of the Ayuthian dynasty,
was "to settle the disputes of the people concerning rice, agricultural
products, farming and animal husbandry." Subsequently its duties appear
to have expanded to include the supervision of royal paddy lands
and the collection of farm taxes paid in paddy.
By the time of King Prasad-Thong , the duties of the
Krom Na were listed as follows: land development, irritation, promotion
of animal husbandry, collection of farm taxes in paddy and their
storage, administration of land grants to religious bodies and individuals,
settling disputes over land, and the control over agent charged
with these responsibilities. :
However, the History goes on to discuss the activities of the Krom
Na "in practice," as contrasted with the official prescription. It speaks
of the continuous military activities of the Ayuthian dynasty, and states
that "the main governmental policy regarding the Krom Na, therefore,
was to expect it to furnish food, particularly rice, for the government
services. Consequently the actual operations of the Krom Na were primarily
concerned with the collection of food for the army and other
governmental services. In order to carry out this work, the-Krom Na
was authorized to provide land to the people for cultivation and rice
production, to issue certificates of land possession, to settle farmers and
prevent their disputes, and to collect the farm tax.
From the point of view of a Western scholar, the activities of the
Krom Na appear somewhat different, but they were still oriented primarily
toward land, rice, and taxes. Wales writes:
It was the first duty of this minister to urge a somewhat indolent people
to begin the cultivation cf the fields at the proper season, himself setting the
example at the ceremonial First Ploughing. He also saw that the people did
not waste their time when they should be attending to their crops; and he
had a court in which he was empowered to try cases connected with lands
and cattle, and to settle boundary disputes. The work of draining fields and
cutting irrigation canals was under his jurisdiction, and his officers supervised
the clearing of jungle. It was through his department that the king
allotted lands to distinguished officials in recognition of their services, as
royal gifts at cremations and so on. He appointed officers to collect the revenue
due from the people on their rice crops and to assemble cattle or buffaloes
if they were required by the government.
The important Kram Chan was also under the control of this department.
Its special duty was the buying of rice and cattle fodder (also apparently,
ivory and leather) for the royal storehouses, and distributing them in accordance
with the requirements of the various departments of the central
administration, especially in connection with military expeditions.
-But the Senapati Krom Na only liked the work of buying the royal rice
because this was the only work that was profitable to himself; consequently
he neglected his other duties. The work of the subordinate officers of this
department was particularly fruitful in opportunities for extortion and corruption; and these evils had, by the middle of the Bangkok period, completely
undermined the efficiency of the department.
Before the basic structure of the Krom Na was modified,
a new department of Mines and Geology had been created, by royal proclamation,
on January 1, 1891.
CREATION OF THE MINISTRY
As we have seen, the new Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce
was created by the royal proclamation of April 1, 1892 (which also
established twelve functionally oriented ministries to rationalize and
displace the earlier structures of government). This ministry took over
the earlier activities of the Krom Na, plus the newly created Department
of Mines.
But in 1896 the Minister, Chao Phya Surasakdimonti, resigned and
recommended the abolition of the Minisbry. Accordingly, the Department
of mines was transferred to the ministry of Interior where it
proved useful in helping to extend the centralized control of the government
to remote provinces of the south where European mining