Panel wants provision on good governance in charter

A new independent body to oversee the enforcement of good governance was also suggested, although the committee acknowledged that as many new independent organisations have already been proposed, the task could be delegated to an existing organisation, committee chairman Theerayuth Lorlertrat said yesterday.
Other proposals include greater efficiency, access to state services, and people’s participation in state administration.
Theerayuth said a clear security policy was also needed, including on the issue of the monarchy institution.
NRC member Amphon Jindawattana said people needed more devolution of power so that they could manage their own affairs and protect themselves.
Another NRC member, Direk Thuengfang, cited the example of floods and how helpless local people are in tackling them, as state agencies related to the prevention and mitigation of floods are controlled at the national level and not at local level.
“If we allowed the provinces to solve their own problems it would reduce the burden of the [central] government,” he said, adding that maximum decentralisation was needed.
Another NRC member complained that because of the centralised nature of the administrative system, local people could not choose their own governor and often became victims of the situation wherein frequent transfers of the provincial governor affected the quality of governance there.