Jaturon Urges Abolishing Specific Subsidies for Local Rule
Jaturon Chaisang calls on the government to scrap specific local subsidies, citing corruption risks and pushing for four reforms to grant local bodies full autonomy.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Jaturon claims specific local subsidies are breeding grounds for patronage and kickbacks.
- Notes local revenue sits at 29.35% this year, falling short of the 35% legal target.
- Proposes four reform measures including turning specific subsidies into general grants.
- Suggests a 5% budget cut in this sector to pressure meaningful decentralization reform.
Jaturon Chaisang has raised serious concerns regarding the administrative structure and budget allocation for local government organizations in Thailand, pointing out that while the law sets a local revenue target at 35% of government revenue, this year's share remains stagnant at just 29.35% for several years.
Furthermore, whenever the government increases its borrowing, the proportion of local revenue further declines because loan amounts are not included in the calculation of local revenue shares, preventing regional development from matching required funding levels.
Regarding the subsidies allocated for 34 designated missions approved by the Decentralization Committee, Jaturon highlighted that local authorities lack true decision-making freedom and must strictly follow central government mandates, creating a false impression of high local revenue on paper.
Specific subsidies were previously managed by the Department of Local Administration before the Budget Procedure Act of 2018 established budget recipient units. This required provincial administrative organizations and municipalities to request funds directly from the Bureau of Budget, while sub-district administrative organizations remained outside the system, forcing committees to review thousands of local projects on a case-by-case basis.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
"It still relies on the discretion of the Bureau of Budget, and the parliament cannot properly oversee it because lawmakers do not know what local areas actually need. Asking local bodies why they do something is not the duty of the House of Representatives, which should focus on central and regional government agencies."
Jaturon Chaisang
To address these structural flaws, Jaturon proposed four practical solutions: minimizing direct budget requests to the Bureau of Budget, converting specific subsidies into general grants based on population size, density, and essential missions to grant local bodies 100% decision-making power, overhauling local revenue allocation systems, and redistributing duties between local organizations and regional administration to eliminate redundancy.
Fiscal decentralization has long been a critical debate in Thai politics. Forcing local administrative bodies to rely heavily on central government budgets not only hinders regional flexibility but also creates heavy oversight burdens and potential transparency risks. Proposing a 5% budget reduction serves as a policy mechanism to pressure concrete structural budget reforms.
Jaturon noted that he had previously submitted similar proposals to the previous committee without any tangible changes, prompting him to push for a 5% budget cut to genuinely compel systemic improvements in local decentralization and financial allocation.
Source: Matichon Politics
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