Abstract:
The study of the administration and supervision of autonomous administrative organizations in Thailand found that they have different modes of operation and characteristics. Traditionally, only two forms of public organizations were operated by the government, namely Government Agencies and State Enterprises. Government Agencies refer to ministries, departments and authorities, which are responsible for providing services for people in the areas of national security and safety, internal security, justice, etc. State Enterprises are agencies that operate to provide services on a commercial basis. Later, new types of performances of governments emerged, which could not be taken care of within the traditional frameworks. Such performances were required to be carried out under a system with significant levels of flexibility and independence, and therefore were not suitable to work in a bureaucratic framework involving complicated chains-of-command. They also do not have the characteristics of individual or commercial functionality, and so cannot operate on a self-financing basis, Therefore, a new pattern of public organizations was established to operate conforming to the performances, providing services in line with the changing requirements. In the early stages of this development, there was no concrete structure for the new organizations. In 2533 (1990), government issued legislation, specifying the regulations over the establishment, management, position, performances and role of so-called 'Autonomous Administrative Organization' or 'Public Corporation.' However, no standards or criteria regarding the establishment of such organizations were included, which could be used as reference or guidance. Also, these autonomous administrative organizations were established with different rationales depending on the situation at the time of the establishment. These factors had adverse effects on the administration, controlling and monitoring systems of the organizations, as well as on their relationships with the government. In 2542 (1999), the Public Corporation Act, of BE. 2542 was issued to include a set of standards and criteria for the establishment of autonomous administrative organizations. This thesis studies the history and the structure of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA). NSTDA is an autonomous administrative organization, established under the Science and Technology Development Act, of B.E, 2534 (1991) on December 30, 1991, before any standards or criteria were set. The study found several problems interfering with the performance of the agency. Firstly, the Act does not speci a clear role for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment in supervising NSTDA's operation and performance. Secondly, NSTDA is receiving financial support from the Budget Bureau in the form of a supporting grant without clear information on the performance-monitoring and evaluation system, specified in the Act (implying indirect overseeing and man itoring practice). This study recommends that the Science and Technology Development Act, of B.E. 2534 (1991) should be revised. Standard guidelines should be formulated to monitor and assess the efficiency of autonomous administration organizations in accordance with the public law.