The Network Cooperation Assessment on the Office of Ombudsman’ Project on the Creation of Impartiality among Governmental Organization : A Case study of the Sub district and Village Headmen Network in Nonthaburi

Abstract

The Ombudsman of Thailand has its main authority and responsibility to assist in complaint resolutions lodged by Thai citizens who may encounter unfair practices’ detrimental effects caused by governmental organizations or officials. The Office of the Ombudsman of Thailand is an independent organ under the constitution with authorized duties to support and facilitate the ombudsman’s operations. The Office of the Ombudsman has initiated a network cooperation project with the intended objective of establishing impartiality among governmental organizations, which is the sub-district and village headmen network in this instance. This massive sub-district and village headmen network has been in place since the fiscal year 2023, with members more than 30,000 sub-district and village headmen as its network members. The objective of this initiative is to establish a network of village headmen and sub-district heads to support the Ombudsman's mission of redressal grievances and unfairness among the people. This network will also enable village headmen and sub-district heads to actively participate in various activities related to the Ombudsman's work. This study carries out a network cooperation assessment focusing only on the sub-district and village headmen network in Nonthaburi province, with 295 questionnaire respondents as a sample group and an in-depth interview with 7 interviewees. The author adopts a quantitative research methodology using the CIPP Model, examining four aspects of assessment. The findings indicate that the context aspect receives an average score of 3.86, the input aspect 3.45, the process aspect 3.77, and the output aspect 3.70. The average score for the four aspects is 3.77, indicating that all aspects are at high levels. In conclusion, the aforementioned activity can be considered a success. It was well-organized, appropriate, and achieved its objective of establishing a sustainable and representative network at the local level. The author proposes four suggestions for the development of the Office of the Ombudsman’s sub district and village headmen network accordingly. 1. There should be an acknowledgement campaign to raise awareness about the Ombudsman's network cooperation. 2. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) should be established between network organizations. 3. Curriculum adjustments or activity initiation are necessary. 4. There should be a specific department responsible for training