1.1 Thailand’s Public Sector Reform from B.E. 1300 to the Present
1.1.1 Thailand’s Public Sector Reform before the Siamese Revolution
B.E. 2475 (1932)
Traditional Thai historians considered the foundation of the Sukhothai Kingdom as the beginning of the nation. In the political and administrative system at that time the King ruled the State as the citizens’ father, the so called “Po Khun”. This system was used to rule the State for a century. The first reform of the political and administrative system began during the reign of King Ramatibodi I of the Ayuttaya Kingdom, B.E. 1857-1912 (1351-1369) in order to respond to the expanded power of the Kingdom. The four pillars of state (Cha-tu-sa-dom) propagated from the Indian political system were adopted instead of the “Po Khun” system. King Trailokanat of Ayuthaya, B.C.1991-2031 (1448-1488) reformed the Siamese bureaucracy once again by separating civil and military officials. “Sa-mu-ha-na-yok” was the Head of the Civil Office which took responsibility for civil duties, and “Sa-mu-ha-ka-la-hom” was the Head of the Military Office responsible for military duties. In his reign, the hierarchies of the nobility were first codified. Officials had titular ranks and feudal ranks called “Sakdi na”. He also adopted a palatinate law in order to re-categorize the cities of Ayutthaya by class, the hierarchy of cities ranging from the Inner Cities and Outer Cities to Colonies.
The Thai political and public administration system of the King Trailokanat had the main objective of categorizing cities of the State in order to rule and control rather than to provide public services. The power of the State was centralized. The Kings were the supreme head of State as absolute monarchy was the political system. The Kings were not only the ruler but also God. Thus, political and public administration reforms were based on rulers not the people. This system continued until the public sector reform of King Chulalongkorn at the end of the 19th century.
The Thai bureaucratic system was reformed once again in the reign of King Chulalongkorn or King Rama V of the Rattanakosin Kingdom in B.E. 2435 (1892). The old tradition of the four pillars of state system was replaced. The Thai bureaucratic system and structure of state administration were entirely overhauled. King Chulalongkorn introduced many new reforms and innovations to the country, not only public administration reform, but also laws, politics, education and medicine, commercialism, and so on. These demonstrated the desire of the king to modernize the infrastructure and other institutions of the country. The Thai public administration and its structure were adopted in the form of Ministries, Government Bureaus and Departments and the state administration was divided into three levels of central, provincial, and local. This form of bureaucratic system and structure of state administration continued until B.E. 2475 (1932) and has provided the foundation of the present Thai bureaucratic system.