Local Government Organizations and the Dependency on Developing Local Development Plans: A Case Study of Yala Province
Keywords:
Local Government, Urban and Regional Planning, Yala ProvinceAbstract
This article aims to provide a better understanding of the local development process in the Southern Border Provinces. It is a qualitative research which includes in-depth interviews with 6 key informants and 2 focus group discussions conducted with stakeholders involving in
local development policy and planning process. Study samples consisted of Yala City Municipality, Betong Municipality, and Patae Subdistrict Municipality with a focus on structural and legal issues. The study discovered that the 1997 Thai Constitution was the most important basis of Thailand’s governmental system’s decentralization, leading to the establishment of laws and
mechanisms of power and independence for local governments to create a local development plan and citizen participation. However, the National Council for Peace and Order had seized control and imposed new laws that slowed progress. As a result, the process of developing a local development plan was directed and obligated to the central government, resulting in less
autonomy for local governments and citizens to design plans. The enormous transformation became an impediment to developing a responsive and needed local development plan for people in the Southern Border Provinces who had been plagued by violence for over ten years. This distinguished this region from others in the country. The article aims to persuade the Thai government to reconsider the direction of the local development plan-making process, as well as legislation that encourages citizen engagement, as was the case in the 1997 Thai Constitution that may benefit local people and embody democratic development in localities in a sustainable
manner. This might be the solution to the conflict problem.
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