AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE AUTONOMY OF THAI (AUTONOMOUS) PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
Abstract
The latest Administrative Reform in Thailand in 1999 reflected the
influence of New Public Management (NPM) perspectives, leading to a
drastic restructuring of age old bureaucracy “Agenafication” or creating new single purpose agencies was one of various approaches to face lift bureaucracy in the name of “Public Organizations or Autonomous Public Organizations (Al’Os)” to be free from tedious regulations and hierarchical commands of politicians.
Since (Autonomous or Quasi-autonomous) Public Organizations Act has been issued in 1999, there are approximately 29 agencies created. This paper aims at attacking and analyzing the issue of autonomy of Public Organizations in Thailand, which is the main reason in hiving off from their original organizations. The theoretical basis of autonomy employed in the study is drawn from Peters Verhoest and others, particularly in the areas of personnel and financial management. Constructive questionnaires were employed and collected between June and August 2010 from all 29 Public Organizations. In-depth interviews with the agency’s executives were conducted to gain insight knowledge of the concept in practice. The statistical analysis shows that Thai APos are more or less independent from the politicians. Though the legal and administrative structure of their
establishment, they somewhat recognize and are responsive to the demands of the relevant Ministries. On the contrary, they are able to maintain the balance and handle the pressure in such a way that the agencies can carry