Thai Bureaucratic System and the Accession to the International Standard for Ease of Doing Business: A Case Study of Land Department and Legal Execution Department
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Abstract
This study examines the impact on the Thai bureaucratic system in its accession to the international standard of Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in its bureaucratic autonomy, multilevel-administrative coordination, and administrative style and authority. Analyzed in this study to explain the changes in the domestic bureaucratic system are the Land Department (LD) and Legal Execution Department (LED) because of their responsibility to employ EDB in registering property and resolving insolvency. The author reviewed the World Bank's and public agencies' documents and reports on the EDB and interviewed representatives from private organizations and the aforementioned public agencies. This research utilized content analysis of the data collected. The findings describe that the accession to the international standard of EDB changes the bureaucratic system in the two agencies to 1) have autonomy of will but limited autonomy of action, 2) exercise the political authority to push forward their projects and plans, 3) employ compulsory coordination to create collaborations with other organizations, however; the Legal Execution Department employs persuasive coordination, and 4) presents its (LD) administrative characteristic as the policy entrepreneur, and (LED) performs as policy and institutional entrepreneur. This article will contribute to a broader understanding of how the Thai bureaucratic system developed and changed through the perspective of international public administration.
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