The Interior Ministry's new attempt to control local govt runs counter to the plan for grassroots democracy. Legislation sponsored by the Interior Ministry that seeks to wrest back control of local community leadership sailed through the National Legislative Assembly last week. The bill governing local administration at the village and tambon (subdistrict) levels will, when enacted, extend the tenure of village heads and kamnan, and change the criteria for qualification of candidates. Village heads will continue to be elected by local people but candidates will have to be vetted by a screening committee made up of representatives from local government and local communities before they can run for office. Kamnan, who were previously elected directly by the people at subdistrict level, will now be selected by an assembly of village heads chaired by the district chief, who reports to the provincial governor and Interior Ministry.

The tenure of the village head and kamnan, which was previously limited to a five-year term, will be extended until the office-holder reaches the mandatory retirement age of 60 years. However, village heads and kamnan will be subjected to performance assessment every one to five years to ensure they are fit for duty and that they abide by principles of good governance.

Under the local administration structure, the kamnan is the head of a tambon, or subdistrict, which is usually a cluster of villages each led by a village head. Critics say the new legislation will enable the Interior Ministry to wield excessive influence over the village heads and kamnan, and runs counter to the ongoing government decentralisation plan.

The Interior Ministry claims the restructuring of local administration at the most basic level aims to improve efficiency in government efforts to raise people's overall standard of living. To do that, the ministry insists it is necessary to put village heads and kamnan under its administrative purview. The ministry points out that many local problems such as environmental degradation and drug trafficking are inseparably linked to national security and that's why it is important for the government to enlist the support of local community leaders like village heads and kamnan. The central government knows that these leaders have intimate knowledge of local problems and how to effectively address them, and that they command respect from local people.

The Interior Ministry's argument is valid to a certain extent. While it may be true that village heads and kamnan are accountable to the local people who elect them directly and indirectly, they still have a lot to learn from district chiefs on how to run their affairs smoothly in cooperation with central government agencies. For it is these agencies that will continue to take the lead in national development efforts for some time to come.

The decentralisation plan requires central government to gradually increase the share of tax receipts that local governments - ranging from provincial administrative organisations, municipalities and tambon administrative organisations - can set aside for development of their own communities. This can be done more or less at their own discretion, and on their own initiative. At present, the share is fixed at 35 per cent.

Thailand is in transition from being a highly centralised state to a more decentralised one. Local people will have more say on how they want to govern themselves and how they want to develop their communities. In other words, they will take command of their own destiny under democratic rule. Ideally, village heads and kamnan are supposed to work with tambon administrative councils under sound-governance rules with checks and balances. But in reality, many elected community leaders and local government organisations - which are still in their infancy - have encountered a plethora of problems including corruption, lack of basic administrative skills and inability to formulate coherent development strategies, among other things.

There is little doubt that central government agencies must continue to coach local government officials through capacity building by local government staff. On the other hand, local government organisations must also be allowed to learn from their mistakes and local people must be educated on how they can participate more actively in the local political process to make sure that the people they elect to serve them do so honestly, efficiently and wisely.