• Thailand’s Political Background
• Thailand has long experience of monarchy and has left its legacy in its social and political systems.
• Thai society has had three main influences:
a) the Sakdina and Prai system;
b) order in precedence;
c) hierarchy.
• Thai society was divided into different classes with political powers in the hands of the elites, while the commoners had few opportunities to participate in politics, and less chance to study at a higher level, like those in higher positions.
• Consequently, a social gap between two groups, the elite and the great majority, opened.
• The Emergence and
Derivation of Rigid Hierarchy
• Although paternalism was successfully applied throughout the Sukhothai Kingdom (1257-1378), and later in the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350–1767).
• The idea of the absolute monarchy developed and was continually applied as the political system until 2477 BC (1934) when Thailand‘s political system became a democracy.
• The Sukhothai Kingdom was the main kingdom of the modern Thai nation that applied a ‘Father-Son’ or ‘paternalistic’ system to its administration.
• The status of the King was respected as the father to all the people. And under this Father-Son administration, kings possessed absolute power.
• This was because the relationship between a king and his people was very close, the kings were able to exercise their absolute power.
• During the Sukhothai era, its administrative system was borrowed from the Khmer kingdom, especially the concept of divine leading Thailand to have an absolute monarchy.
D.R. SarDesai, Southeast Asia Past & Present. (Chiang Mai Thailand: Silkworm Book, 1997), p. 53.
• The Sukhothai kingdom was prosperous until the mid-14th century that its power was overshadowed by the new kingdom called as Ayutthaya, which was located in the lower Chao Phraya River.
• In this era, the society was set hierarchically because a consequence of the combination of Thai customary law and the Indian Code of Manu
D.R. SarDesai, p. 54.
• During King Thilok’s reign, the Ayutthaya kingdom had expanded its power to the Khmer kingdom. As a result, several of administrative system was reorganized by bureaucrats who were brought from Khmer kingdom.
• These led King Thailok to reform the national administrative system into several categories.
• The Divine Rights System influenced the rulers and the people were separated.
• The status of the Kings left the people completely under the control of rulers and the relationship became one of master-servant within the context of an absolute monarchy.
• As a result, Thailand’s administrative regime remained an absolute monarchy until the Rattanakosin era.
• Provincial Administration
• During the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the first provincial administration in Thailand was introduced.
• The Jatusadom system, the Sakdina system, and the Prai system were initiated and continued for 400 years, through the Ayutthaya Kingdom until the beginning period of Rattanakosin era and strengthen hierarchy system to play an important role in the present.
Department of Provincial Administration, Ministry of Interior, The Evolution of Thai Administration, The Ayutthaya Administration
• In addition, because its location that situated only 70 kilometers up the board, during the 17th century, the Ayutthaya kingdom became a wealthy trade centre to several traders such as Chinese, Indian, Persian, Portuguese, French, Dutch and English.
Peter Church, A Short History of South-East Asia. 4th edn. (Singapore: John Wiley&Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd , 2006), p.161.
• Being in the fertilized location and gained abundance of natural resources and food, the arrival of Western country for trading was not a major propose anymore. In 1511, Portuguese conquested Malacca, while other European countries began in intervene the Southeast Asia State later in the 19th century.
Ibid., p. 162.
• During the Ayutthaya kingdom, there were wars making to its neighbouring states from time to time.
• The consequence of this made Thailand to face a political pressure.
• After the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 to the Burmese, King Taksin the Great had been restored state’s independence then moved the capital of Thailand from Ayutthaya to Thonburi for approximately 15 years.
• However, because of its location that was risky to the armies and the chaos of the uprising, the Thonburi kingdom was collapsed in 1782.
• In the same year, the current Rattanakosin era began by the establishment of Bangkok as capital under King Rama I the Great of the Chakri dynasty.
D.R. SarDesai, Southeast Asia Past & Present. (Chiang Mai Thailand: Silkworm Book, 1997), p. 77.
• During Rattanakosin era, at the beginning several Western countries entered into Southeast Asia seeking for trade and propagation of religion. For example, by the end of 16th century, rival European countries like the Dutch and the English entered into spice trade with India and other Southeast Asia courtiers.
Peter Church, 2006. p. 66.
• Up until 19th century, Western countries entered into the mainland Southeast Asia making several states in Southeast Asia became under their controls. For instance, France occupied Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, England occupied Myanmar, Netherland occupied Indonesia, and Portugal and Netherland occupied Malaysia.
Phitakthai Thepnok, Political analysis of countries in Asia. (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand: Jira Printing, 1999), p.7
• Unlike its neighbouring states, Thailand becomes the only Southeast Asia country which has never been under the Western political control. However, Thailand had to face a tension from French power over Indochina and the British Empire in Burma (Myanmar) and Malaya (Malaysia).
• As a result, the country became a buffer state to its neightbouring states that were colonised by the Great Britain and France.
Gilbert Khoo and Dorothy Lo, Asia Transformation A History of South-East, South and East Asia. (Singapore: Heinemann Asia, 1992), p. 336.
• With the consequence of colonisation, the administrative reforms of 1892 were to strengthen the national administration system so that policy would be implemented more effectively.
• However, the main purpose was to make certain the Thai central government was empowered, and had sufficient strength, to remain an independent nation state, and so protect itself from colonialism.
Likhit Dhiravegin, The Evolution of the Thai Political System, 9th edn. (Bangkok: Thammasat University, 2005), p. 257.
• From this, under King Chulalongkorn‘s bureaucratic reforms of 1892, decentralisation was not introduced because, at that stage, Thailand needed to strengthen central government to ensure control of the national administration system rather than risking decentralisation.
• Consequently, during King Chulalongkorn’s reign, the major reform of government was set in the mid 1880s in respond to the colonisation of neighbouring counties and as a means of strengthening and maintaining control of central government, rather than risky any loss of the authority to the peripheral region.
• Thus, because Thailand’s decentralisation was copies from the British system of colonial governance rather than setting the system based on Thailand’s political system.
• Therefore, the decentralisation in Thailand during the foundation period was depended on bureaucrats who were assigned by the government or the leader at local level. As a result decentralisation remains under central government from time to time.
• Despite this, the Thai national administrative system has been characterised by the ‘top-down’ approach and a strong central government.More recently, Thailand has reinvigorated its commitment to decentralisation to support officials at the provincial and local levels to play a greater role within the national administrative system.
Kovit Phong-ngam, Thailand‘s Local Governance: Principles and a New Dimension in the Future (Bangkok: Winyuchon Publication House, 2000), p. 78.
• With these circumstances, Charoenmuang described the character of Thailand‘s decentralisation as a colonial local government with relationships between the two main groups characterised as masters and servants.
• Moreover, since the servants had less opportunity to be free, the only way to acknowledge those masters was as their rulers.
Charoenmuang, 100 years of Thai Local Government 1887–1997, p. 83.
• This can be explained that before the colonial time, besides centralisation of government and administrative system that was under the king, a local administrative system was launched in a form of self-governing that had a tributary provinces to pay allegiance to the king of Ayutthaya under The Mandala System or Circle of Power.
• Generally, this principality was ruled by assigned bureaucrats, members of the royal family of Ayutthaya, or by local rulers who had their own independent armies.
Charles Higham, The Archaeology of mainland Southeast Asia. (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 335
• On the other hand, during King Chulalongkorn, the administrative reforms were transformed into modern institutions.
• The Thai government and its functions were
• carefully reconsidered
• Afterwards the bureaucratic reform was introduced and promoted which aiming Thailand‘s political system and the national administrative system to be strengthened.
• In the transformation from a traditional kingdom into a modern nation-state, King Chulalongkorn began by setting up the State Council and the Privy Council.
• Under the national administration reforms, central and provincial administrations were introduced, with the central administrative system divided into 12 different ministries.
• Local Government
• The first form of local government which called sukhaphiban‖or sanitary committee, was established in 1898.
• Thailand after 1932
• Even though Thailand