Resource information
Addressing regional disparities in
access to public services is an emerging development
challenge for Thailand. A well-functioning system of
Central-Local Government Relations and proactive expenditure
policy can help achieve this goal. Providing responsive and
accountable public services are necessary for maintaining
trust of the citizens in government and fostering cohesion
within a unitary state like Thailand. Without a reversal of
current regional disparities in access to public services
and addressing tensions that are present in the
central-local architecture, Thailand runs the risk of
eroding public trust in government and leading to further
polarization. Thailand has a significant opportunity to
improve delivery of public services by: (i) making access to
public services more uniform across the country; (ii)
transitioning fully to a unitary decentralized form of
government with clearly demarcated roles and accountability
structures between different levels of government
(especially within health and education sectors) and to
administratively consolidate Laos into larger more
financially viable entities; and (iii) establishing national
service delivery standards, publishing annual performance
reports on these benchmarks along with unit costs of
standard goods and supplies procured, and publishing
reports on operations at the municipal level.
