Thailand's government decentralizing
but still little local control over use of funds
By Jon Fernquest 
There
are many limitations on the way that funds can be spent by local
government.This was one topic discussed in the Bangkok Post series on local government last week (Read previous article).
Local government does very little tax collection itself, as can be seen in the table on the right.
This must mean that the central government collects most local taxes.
Would it be better if local taxes were collected locally and used locally?
Article follows vocabulary:
decentralization - moving
government from the center (Bangkok) to local areas
(provinces) to better help the people
funds - money to be used for special purposes
funds - money to be used for special purposes
Government grants come with strings attached
Local bodies say curbs on how they can spend their money limit their freedom.13/11/2009
Surasak Glahan
Prapas Phoocharoen, the mayor of Lamphun's Muang municipality, finds it hard to hide his frustration when asked about the financial health of his office.
"No good," he said. "We have a 12 million baht deficit on our balance sheet, and no money left for our own plans."
His municipality is responsible for about 15,000 urban residents.
The government gave it 90 million baht last year.
grants - money
given for some activity
X comes with strings attached - must agree to do things to get X
local bodies - local government organisations
curbs - restrictions, rules that limit action
mayor - the top government official and leader of a town
municipality - all the area that is officially included in a town
frustration - feelings of sadness and anger when you cannot solve a difficult problem or complete a difficult task
deficit - not enough income to cover expenses (have to borrow to cover deficit)
balance sheet - a written statement of a company or organisation's financial state (money it owes, assets, the value of the company) (See Wikipedia)
urban (adjective) - related to cities
urban residents - people who live in cities
X comes with strings attached - must agree to do things to get X
local bodies - local government organisations
curbs - restrictions, rules that limit action
mayor - the top government official and leader of a town
municipality - all the area that is officially included in a town
frustration - feelings of sadness and anger when you cannot solve a difficult problem or complete a difficult task
deficit - not enough income to cover expenses (have to borrow to cover deficit)
balance sheet - a written statement of a company or organisation's financial state (money it owes, assets, the value of the company) (See Wikipedia)
urban (adjective) - related to cities
urban residents - people who live in cities
The government is transferring functions and cash to local bodies as part of a process of decentralisation.
However, local bodies say that large chunks of the government money come with limitations on how it can be spent.
This undermines the principle of the changes, that local residents should get more say over their lives.
transferring functions and cash
to local bodies -
moving the things that government does and the money it spends to the
local level
process - a series of actions taken to achieve a result
process of decentralisation - the series of actions taken to move parts of a government to the local level
a chunk - a piece
large chunks of the government money - large pieces of government money
undermine - make weak
undermines the principle of the changes - goes against the reason the changes were made (doesn't support the reason for the changes)
get more say over their lives - can be part of decisions that affect their lives
process - a series of actions taken to achieve a result
process of decentralisation - the series of actions taken to move parts of a government to the local level
a chunk - a piece
large chunks of the government money - large pieces of government money
undermine - make weak
undermines the principle of the changes - goes against the reason the changes were made (doesn't support the reason for the changes)
get more say over their lives - can be part of decisions that affect their lives
Discussing his budget woes, Mr Prapas said a big slice of the government's 90 million baht was given on condition that the municipality financed its populist policies.
The rest of the grant, which is supervised by the provincial governor, was spent on regular outgoings such as staff salaries, public service maintenance and materials and equipment.
a woe - a very
great sadness (because of some problem)
budget woes - when the budget or annual money given to you causes great problems and sadness
a big slice of the government's 90 million baht - a big piece or part of the government's 90 million baht
populist policies - policies to make large numbers of people happy right now (even if policies might lead to big problems later on)
provincial governor - the head or top leader of a province
regular outgoings - money that is paid out every month or every week, two weeks,....
staff salaries - money paid company employees every two or four weeks for their work
budget woes - when the budget or annual money given to you causes great problems and sadness
a big slice of the government's 90 million baht - a big piece or part of the government's 90 million baht
populist policies - policies to make large numbers of people happy right now (even if policies might lead to big problems later on)
provincial governor - the head or top leader of a province
regular outgoings - money that is paid out every month or every week, two weeks,....
staff salaries - money paid company employees every two or four weeks for their work
The government allocates an extra provincial development budget, but that is controlled mainly by the governor and his staff.
"Many local bodies are finding it just as hard to survive financially," said Mr Prapas, who is also president of the National Municipality League of Thailand.
provincial development budget
- special money for improving the economy of a province
National Municipality League of Thailand - an organisation that brings together city government officials all over Thailand
National Municipality League of Thailand - an organisation that brings together city government officials all over Thailand
Under decentralisation, the government must eventually hand over 35% of its budget to help local bodies pay for the increased responsibilities which they will take on.
So far it has handed over just 25%, or 341 billion baht, this fiscal year.
A big portion of that money is tagged to particular items such as free school meals and water supply subsidies.
local bodies - local
government organisations
responsibilities - things that you must do as part of your job or position
take on responsibilities - accept new things that you promise to do (as part of your job)
handed over - given
a big portion - a large part
tagged to particular items - given or promised for special uses
water supply subsidies - money given by the government to pay par of the costs of providing water to people
responsibilities - things that you must do as part of your job or position
take on responsibilities - accept new things that you promise to do (as part of your job)
handed over - given
a big portion - a large part
tagged to particular items - given or promised for special uses
water supply subsidies - money given by the government to pay par of the costs of providing water to people
Local bodies also get a "special grant", but that can only be spent on projects approved by the Interior Ministry.
The National Decentralisation Committee is chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. It has told local bodies that 29 billion baht from the special grant must be spent in the 2010 fiscal year on three key government policies: monthly allowances for the elderly, free education, and monthly allowances for health volunteers.
allowances - money
given to people to help them pay for the things they need
Local bodies say restrictions on how they can spend their budgets limit their ability to plan and stop them achieving development and investment targets.
"Local administration organisations were not prepared for the order to finance the government's policies, because we plan our spending over three-year cycles," said Taweesak Srithongkittikul, chairman of the Alliance of Tambon Administrations chiefs.
The special grant should be scrapped, he said, because governors distributed it unfairly. Governors also supervise the 18 billion baht provincial development budget, or "CEO governor budget".
"We must cut the authority of governors and bureaucrats if we want to strengthen decentralisation," said Kowit Puang-ngam, a local administration specialist at Thammasat University. "Devolution has failed so far."
elderly - old
people, people of great age
alliance - when groups or states join together to help each other
Alliance of Tambon Administrations chiefs - an organisation of local government leaders in Thailand
scrapped - ended, discarded
bureaucrats - officials who work for the government
devolution - when a large organization hands over power and activities to smaller organisations
alliance - when groups or states join together to help each other
Alliance of Tambon Administrations chiefs - an organisation of local government leaders in Thailand
scrapped - ended, discarded
bureaucrats - officials who work for the government
devolution - when a large organization hands over power and activities to smaller organisations
Local organisations, especially provincial administration organisations, should be allowed to plan budgets, including the CEO budget, he said.
The Interior Ministry and governors can dismiss local leaders, which should also stop if the government was serious about handing power to residents.
Courts and anti-corruption bodies should keep an eye on local bodies instead.
But Deputy Interior Minister Boonjong Wongtrairat said tagged spending and other controls imposed by the government were just procedural matters.
"Governors are the mechanism allowing us to reach local communities," he said.
Interior Ministry - a Thai
government agency with wide-ranging responsibilities including: the
Royal Thai Police, local administrations, internal security,
citizenship, disaster management, land management, issuing national
identity cards and public works (See Wikipedia)
dismiss local leaders - take job away from local leaders
keep an eye on - watch and check to make sure that everything is done correctly (and no theft of funds)
controls imposed by the government - rules that limit activities created by the government
procedural - involving formal or the correct steps to complete a task (get something done)
matters - affairs, a situation that you must deal with that has problems
a mechanism - a special way of getting some task done within a system
dismiss local leaders - take job away from local leaders
keep an eye on - watch and check to make sure that everything is done correctly (and no theft of funds)
controls imposed by the government - rules that limit activities created by the government
procedural - involving formal or the correct steps to complete a task (get something done)
matters - affairs, a situation that you must deal with that has problems
a mechanism - a special way of getting some task done within a system
(Source: Bangkok Post, Government grants come with strings attached, Local bodies say curbs on how they can spend their money limit their freedom, 13/11/2009, Surasak Glahan, link)
