Précis
In May 1992, Thailand experienced a traumatic confrontation between student protesters and the military, leading to royal intervention and a lengthy interruption to decades of military rule. Catalyzed by social and environmental strains associated with a globally-oriented, booming economy, a well-organized democracy movement gained strength in urban and rural Thailand. Thailand's economic bubble burst, but the movement lived on, manifesting a new, reform Constitution in October 1997. Drafted rapidly but openly, Thailand's eighth Constitution includes provisions for government transparency, popular participation, and sustainable development. As important as passage of the Constitution was, its drafters realized that even greater challenges lie ahead in institution-creation, legislative implementation, regulatory reform and enforcement. How far and how long will these Constitutional reforms go? Will they be reversed by various interest groups and individuals? Or will the movement's efforts to reform Thailand's political and administrative systems be sustained?
This project will examine Thailand's movement for institutional reform, with emphasis on efforts to transform the country's institutional framework for environmental regulation. Environmental regulation lies at the heart of an historic contention between citizens, economic interests, and government officials related to the side-effects of global trade, industrialization and development. Institutional changes prompted by the new, reform constitution will be extended and complicated by separate measures to increase the number of governmental ministries in Thailand from 15 to 20, including creation and consolidation of a new Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources; and to decentralize administrative power, funding, and decision making from the central government to provinces, districts, and municipal councils. This study will contribute to a more general understanding of the paths of discussion and debate, conflict and cooperation, formalization and implementation, through which all provisions of Thailand's new Constitution must proceed. It will make valuable contributions to comparative analysis of issues of institutional reform, democratization, and globalization throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
(June 2002)
David A. Sonnenfeld's Home Page
last updated June 24, 2002