Research Activities
Research Projects 2025
Transformation of local governance system and civil society in Thailand: A Case study of the Khonkaen Model
Outline
Thailand's civil society, which had its roots in the late 1980s, is now taking on a new role in the local governance infrastructure that has changed since the September 2006 coup and into the authoritarian era in 2023. This study analyzes the emergence of a new civil society accompanying the transformation of local governance in Thailand, which has not been covered in research since the 2010s, using the case of Khon Kaen City in northeastern Thailand.
The activities of Khon Kaen civil society (citizen groups, economic organizations, university researchers, etc.) took advantage of the opportunity created during the democratization era of the 1990s when a system for expressing opinions on local development plans was established, and gradually expanded its network with local governments. Furthermore, Khon Kaen civil society elites have stepped up their efforts to reform the system of central-local relations, and from 2017 onwards, under the "Smart City" plan, they have created a unique Light Rail Transit (LRT) initiative to attract foreign and domestic private investment as a joint venture between local governments and local businesses. This plan is an attempt to change Thailand's local governance system, which is based on a central bureaucracy, and shift to a new type of local governance led by local governments.
These realities are changing the civil society theory that centered on "actors opposed to the state" until the 1990s, and the New Public Governance theory and Collaborative Governance theory, which involves civil society and local business in determining public services, are emerging as new perspectives. However, in the case of ASEAN, many issues remain unresolved, such as the "takeover" problem of local government resources by foreign capital and the sharing of risks between the private sector and local governments. This study analyses the innovative aspects of this new local urban governance system and its problems, by considering changes in the central and local government relations in Thailand.
Period
April 2024 - March 2026
Members
| Role | Member |
|---|---|
| [ Organizer ] | Funatsu, Tsuruyo |
*Affiliations are as of April 2025.
Expected Outcome
- The Ajia Keizai