Historical Development of Thai Bureaucracy 1892-1993 : Ministries, Bureaus and Departments.

1995 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07620058
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Politics
• Research Institution: KYOTO UNIVERSITY
• Principal Investigator: TAMADA Yoshifumi Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Associate Professor, 東南アジア研究センター, 助教授 (90197567)
• Project Period (FY): 1995
• Keywords: Thailand / administrative organization / bureaucratic history

Research Abstract

This project is aimed at gathering and compiling data on historical development of Thai bureaucracy, especially changes of administrative units above department, since April 1,1892 which is regarded as an official birthday of modern bureaucracy in Thailand. Gazettes published by her government are the main source of data for this study. Although a data book on its historical development has been completed, it is not perfect just because the changes of administrative units came to be done by law only after 1933.
A bird's-eye view of historical development of Thai bureaucracy from 1892 to 1992 is as follows. (1) Although the number of ministries on April 1,1892 was 13, it decreased to only 7 in June 1932. This is mainly because the government, faced with serious recession, had to reduce financial burden by retrenching the government organizations.
(2) In contrast to the period before 1993 when the number of administrative organizations fluctuated on account of a rather arbitrary reorganization by absolute kings, the number of ministries and department has increased constantly since 1933. Nevertheless, there are two notable exception to this generalization. One is as abolishment of two ministries, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Cooperatives, in 1958 and 1963 respectively. This resulted from a political change in 1957.
Another exception was observed in the 1980s. The constant administrative growth came to a halt suddenly. The government was forced to stop the growth because of economic slump since the 1970s. The important reason why the government could take such a courageous action consisted in the strong position of a prime minister at that time who was supported by the kingship, the military and political parties.