The implementation of public participation in Thailand; the successful models

Abstract

This study has found that the concepts of public participation in development, “Participatory Governance,” used by Office of Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) as their administrative guidelines and for implementation by Thai government officials at present, is different from the western theory when applied in actual practice. The study utilized qualitative methods and multiple case studies. The researcher participated in the study and collected data through in-depth interviews, documentary analysis, observation, field notes and focus group discussions. The key informants were the public officers, people and civil society that participated in the projects which awarded provincial governors from 3 provinces in Thailand in participatory governance. This study attempts to answer the following questions: 1) What is current situation of participatory public administration in Thailand ? 2) What are the factors promoting successful public participation? And 3) Is there a successful model that encompasses all public participation situations? The initiation of the public participation was not caused by the requirement of the community, but were the projects originated by the government sector. The public officers are driven by the policy to build on the success of participatory governance, and then selected community is approached to work together.