Abstract:
The objective of this research is to examine legal problems concerning the Tumbol Administrative Organization, which acts as the self-administrativegovernmental unit in rural areas of Thailand.The members of the Tuinbol Administrative Organization consists of persons appointed from the elections according to The Tumbol Council and Administrative Act B.E. 2537 and its Third Amendment WE. 2542. Without political awareness of their rights and duties according to the will of the indigenous citizens, weakness in the legal mechanism, as well as law enforcement have occurre in several TumbolAdministrative Areas and led to inevitable problems, such as corruption free of checks and balances.Documentary research was the method employed in this research, which delineated through legal patterns and processes the theoretical participation of people in local areas, while the current Thai Constitution's concepts were respectfully utilized in analysis.The results of This research are as followings:(1) The Tumbol Administrative Organization was initially establishedaccording to legislation which stipulated only the income of Tumbol Council withouttaking into account other critical factors. This lack of legislative guidance leads to frequent problems, which should be solved by amending the current law to elucidate the requirements for establishment of a Tumbol Administration inc!uding the area and the constituency.(2) State officials such as the Commune Headman (Puyaiban), Tumbol Medical Doctor, Assistant Conmiune Headman, Village Headman Inspector(Salawat Kamnan) have derived various advantages due to the current legal provisions. Specifically, these officials still retain their state positions four years after the announcement of the relevant legal creation of the Tumbal AdministrativeOrganization, despite the fact this arrangement directly conflicts with the Equal Protection Clau contained in the current Constitution. This problem can be solved by repealing or amending the relevant provisions in the Constitution.(3) Most people consider the election of representatives the only means of political participation. The ability of people to take part in essential areas of political action, such as public policy management and development plans depends upon the management of administrators which leads to corruption and improper spending. To remedy such problems, public hearings and a referendum for each arrangement of the Tumbol development plan should be held. Since the Tunibol Administration Organization is an important basis of a democratic government, participation by the majority is necessary(4) Regarding the participation of people in the removal of members of the local.council and the administrators, it was found that the constitution does not have a specific provision for the number of people required to petition for removal. If the number is not appropriately specified, then the removal of a member of the local council or the local administrator will either be frequently carried out or may not be carried out at all. Therefore it is necessary to fix a standard percentage or ratio in such instances, which for the Tumbol Administration should be one fifth of the localconstituency and for Metropolitan Bangkok should be 10,000 members of the constituency.(5) Regarding the participation of people in proposing a law, it was reveale that the Constitution stipulates that the number of petitioners must be more than half of the eligible voters. Such a percentage is unreasonably burdensome and impossible to achieve. For certain types of local administrations, the number should be smaller, specifically one-fifth of the eligible voters, so that the people may have the practical opportunity to propose law in there locality.