Organization of the government of Thailand


Thailand is a unitary state in Southeast Asia. The administrative services of the executive branch of the government are regulated by the National Government Organisation Act, BE 2534 . Under this Act, the services are divided into three levels: central, provincial and local.

Central government

The central government consists of ministries, bureaus, and departments.
Each of the ministries and bureaus is led by a minister who is a member of the Council of Ministers. A bureau may be an independent agency with the same status as a ministry or may be subject to a ministry. Currently, there are no bureaus.
The ministries and bureaus are divided into departments, inter alia. Each department is led by a director general.
There is a central government agency called Office of the Prime Minister. It is led by the prime minister and bears ministerial status.
There are also independent central government agencies. These agencies are not under any ministry, bureau, or department, but are directly subject to the prime minister. They are:
The provincial government consists of provinces. there were 76 provinces.
Each province is led by a governor and is divided into districts., there were 878 districts throughout the country. In each province, there is one capital district. For example, the capital district of Chiang Mai Province is Mueang Chiang Mai District. The exception is Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, where both the province and the capital district share the same name.
Each district is led by a district chief.
Until 2007, some provinces might include minor districts. A minor district was established in large areas where the small number of residents did not warrant the formation of a district. Each minor district was led by a district clerk.
Governors, district chiefs, and district clerks are appointed by the central government.

Local government

Local government consists of two types: ordinary and special.

Ordinary local government

Ordinary local government is of two forms.
  1. Old form under the Local Government Act, Buddhist Era 2457 – Under this form, the subdistricts are established in the districts and minor districts. Each subdistrict is led by a subdistrict chief and is divided into villages. Each village is led by a village chief.
  2. New form under the Municipalities Act, BE 2496 , the Subdistrict Councils and Subdistrict Administrative Organisations Act, BE 2537 , and the Provincial Administrative Organisations Act, BE 2540 – The local government under this form is adopted in every province and consists of:
  3. # 2,442 municipalities which are divided into 30 city municipalities, 179 town municipalities and 2,233 subdistrict municipalities ;
  4. # administrative organisations which are divided into 76 provincial administrative organisations - PAO and 5,332 subdistrict administrative organisations - SAO, these are for the local communities, which are not connected to a thetsaban.
Village chiefs are elected by local citizens. The chiefs of the villages in a subdistrict elect one of their number to also serve as the chief of the subdistrict. According to the Municipalities Act, BE 2496 , when the new form of local government is adopted in any locality, the Minister of Interior may revoke the old form for that locality.
A city municipality is established in an area where there are at least 50,000 citizens, a town municipality, in an area where there are at least 10,000 citizens, and a subdistrict municipality, in any other area. The government of each municipality is divided into two branches: the executive branch led by a mayor and the legislative branch led by a municipal council. The mayors and the municipal councillors are directly elected by the local citizens.
As for an administrative organisation, the government is also divided into two branches: the executive branch led by an administrative organisation chief and the legislative branch led by an administrative organisation council. The administrative organisation chiefs and councillors are directly elected by the local citizens.

Special local government

Special local government is established in some significant localities. Currently, this type of local government is found in:
  1. Bangkok, called Bangkok Metropolitan Administration - BMA according to the Bangkok Metropolis Administrative Organisation Act, BE 2528 , and
  2. Pattaya, called Pattaya City pursuant to the Pattaya City Administrative Organisation Act, BE 2542 .
The governments of Bangkok and Pattaya are divided into two branches: executive and legislative.
Bangkok: the executive branch is led by the Governor of Bangkok and the legislative branch is led by the Council of Bangkok. The territory of Bangkok is divided into districts. There are now 50 districts. The government of each district is also divided into two branches: the executive branch led by a district director and the legislative branch led by a district council. Each district is then divided into subdistricts. There are now 180 subdistricts. Each subdistrict is led by a subdistrict head.
The Governor of Bangkok and the Councillors of Bangkok are directly elected by the citizens of Bangkok. The district directors and the subdistrict heads are appointed by the Governor of Bangkok from amongst the Bangkok metropolitan officers, whilst the district councillors are directly elected by the local citizens.
Pattaya:, the executive branch is led by the Mayor of Pattaya and the legislative branch is led by the Council of Pattaya. The Mayor of Pattaya and the Councillors of Pattaya are directly elected by the citizens of Pattaya.
There is a plan to adopt the special local government in Chiang Mai, which would turn Chiang Mai Province into Chiang Mai Metropolis. The plan was proposed to the National Assembly by the citizens of Chiang Mai in October 2013. However, it is regarded by the conservatives as separatism.
There is also a plan to establish Mae Sot City in Tak Province. The city would cover the current areas of Mae Sot City Municipality and Tha Sai Luat Subdistrict Municipality. The plan would also result in the dissolution of both municipalities.

Historical subdivisions

From the beginning of the 20th century until 1932 there was an additional subdivision called monthon, with some of the larger monthons subdivided into boriwen. The first provinces were named mueang as those developed from the historical city-states. There were both mueang directly dependent from Bangkok, as well as mueang under the supervision of a more powerful neighbouring mueang, or part of the semi-independent tributary states. In 1906 the transition to the term changwat started, which was finalised in 1916.
After the abolition of the monthon, a new subdivision named "region" was established. At first there were four regions with changing outlines. These were changed into nine regions in 1951. In 1956 these regions were abolished as well.
A former municipal level were the sukhaphiban, which were mostly responsible for sanitary tasks like waste management. The administrative level was created in 1908,
in May 1999 all were converted into subdistrict municipalities.
Until 2007 minor districts were a special kind of districts, still partially a subordinate of another district. Usually newly created districts at first became minor districts and were upgraded to full districts after a few years. On 24 August 2007 all 81 minor districts were upgraded to full districts, despite many still not meeting the prerequisites for becoming a full district.

Informal subdivisions

Bangkok and its vicinity, including five adjacent provinces are referred to as Bangkok Metropolitan Region - BMR.
There are several definitions of regions in Thailand. The one used by the National Statistical Office defines four regions - north, northeast, south and central.
Los Angeles, California is sometimes jokingly referred to as "The 78th Province" of Thailand, because the city has the highest Thai population of any city outside of Thailand.