FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Thailand's first citizen's charter puts bureaucracy to real test

Thailand's first citizen's charter puts bureaucracy to real test

Thailand's first "citizen's charter" has come into being, with an official launch ceremony chaired by Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha. But don't be surprised if the majority of the Thai people still aren't quite aware of its existence.

It has taken years to push through a law that requires government officials to “serve” the people, instead of “lording it over” citizens who are at the mercy of government agencies empowered to decide whether or not to issue permits of various kinds.
Corruption is rampant when officials can legally use their own judgement to decide, without a time limit, whether or not to grant permission to a citizen, on everything from birth certificates to applying for a permit to open a factory.
The idea of a citizen’s charter is basically to improve public services by:
• Making civil servants more accountable and “citizen-friendly”.
• Ensuring transparency and the people’s right to information.
• Enforcing measures to motivate bureaucrats to genuinely “serve the people”.
• Reducing or eliminate corruption in bureaucracy.
After prolonged efforts by the private sector, a law finally came into effect on July 21 requiring all government agencies to produce individual “people’s handbooks” that specify the procedures, rules and regulations, conditions (if any) and, most importantly, clearly laid-down deadlines for the finalisation of each application from a citizen.
Each government agency is also required to set up one-stop services (officially known as “the joint service centre”) where all activities related to citizens’ applications for permits or licences can be centralised. The legal buzzword for this process is, “Providing convenience to citizens.”
In the past, offering “convenience” was never a priority in the normal working pattern of bureaucrats. In fact, the reverse was true. Government officials were there to flaunt their authority rather than to “serve”. Hence the general perception among the general public that getting into contact with government agencies was almost always a horrendous experience and best avoided if possible.
The new law directs that the “people’s handbooks” – which must be displayed both visibly at prominent locations as well as digitally, online – must lay down specific information on how many days a particular kind of application will take before a decision is made by the authorities. The duration of the application consideration process must also be judged “appropriate” in length by the Bureaucratic Development Commission (BDC), which is authorised to recommend corrective action to the Cabinet if it considers any handbook rules to be unacceptably restrictive to the public.
Once the consideration period is over, authorities are legally required to inform the applicant of their decision within seven days. If there is a delay in this process, authorities must provide the applicant with reasons for the delay every seven days, in writing, until a decision is made. A copy of this explanation must also be submitted to the BDC.
Does this new law represent a real revolution that will shake up the bloated bureaucracy? The jury is still out. The real test has yet to begin.
The interior and foreign ministries have proved, despite the absence of citizen’s charter legislation, that they can process the issuance of ID cards and passports with admirable efficiency, once the decision to be “citizen-friendly” is vigorously implemented – and the people have access to information and the right to lodge complaints against inefficiency and corruption.
The test for the new, comprehensive “people’s charter” will be in how rigorously the clauses of the law are implemented, particularly those that demand a dramatic change in civil servants’ attitude towards their daily work – from being the “boss” to being the “servant” of the public. It’s a tall order, but it is an order that can’t be ignored in an era when social media can place any misbehaving civil servant in the spotlight almost immediately.
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