Intergovernmental networks in Thailand : the initiative in Lampang, Kanchanaburi, and Rayong Provinces

Abstract

One of the important roles of local government in Thailand is “public service.” In the past, local governments there were limited to this role, but now the central government has delegated more functions to the local governments, which has resulted in local governments having more responsibilities than before. Moreover, some of their duties have become more complicated and difficult to manage, e.g., environmental and infrastructural management. The public service of local government can be improved by using various means; the encouragement of local government cooperatives is the most famous means for improving local government functions and has been used in many countries such as Japan, France, and England. In Thailand, the local government cooperative has still not been seriously applied because of the legal limitations and unsupportive laws and regulations in self-initiated cooperatives and in budget utilization for all cooperative activities. Therefore, there is no official local government, self-initiated cooperative in Thailand at present. Nevertheless, the Department of Local Administration (DOLA), the Ministry of Interior, has cooperated with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct the Technical Cooperative Project on Capacity Building of Local Authorities through Local Government Cooperation and Local Public Standards with the support of Thammasat University. Three types of cooperative network (Pilot Cooperated Project), Garbage Management, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, and Infrastructure Management, were assigned to Lampang, Kanchanaburi, and Rayong provinces as the pilot sites by the DOLA. These three Pilot Cooperated Projects (PCPs) were selected to study in this dissertation. Specifically, their background, characteristics, and nature were studied in deep detail. Moreover, the factors affecting the performance of the cooperative network were revealed by referencing both networking theories, Inter-Organizational Relationships (IORs), Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), the Social Science Perspective, Resource-Dependence Theory (RDT), Institutional Theory, and Leadership Theory, and through the direct interviewing of three provincial representatives. In addition, the pattern of interaction among the factors leading to the erformance of the PCPs was discovered. Under the limitations in law and specific types of PCP assignments assigned by the DOLA, there are six factors affecting the performance of the cooperative network that are common needs among local residents: attitude among local residents toward the cooperative network, level of local residents’ participation, number of parties/actors involved in the cooperative network, orientation towards cooperative behavior, and leadership style. The match/mismatch between types of PCP assignment assigned by the DOLA and the common needs among local residents results in positive/negative attitudes among local residents toward the cooperative network. From result of this study, four parties/actors involved in the cooperative network and match between “democratic” leadership style and “cooperative” orientation towards cooperative behavior of local residents result the positive attitude among local residents toward the cooperative network. This positive attitude can be developed to high level of local residents’ participation in the cooperative network activities, which consequent to performance of Pilot Cooperated Project.