Abstract:
In the society of today, delegation of power is vital for two reasons:- First, to build up efficiency of state officials on whom is bestowed legal power but who are overloaded with responsibilities. And, secondly, to avoid an excess of division of power among officers in different agencies. However, if delegation of power goes beyond (appropriate) limits, there would be ambiguity in the division of power in each agency. Power may sometimes be unsuitably delegated to low-ranking officers to the extent that neither the public nor the supervisors of the official concerned are able to distinguish who truly yeids power Consequently, if we are able to create a law and a system of delegation of administrative power which can properly reconcile with the idea of the necessity of delegation of power and that of its limits, it will help increase the efficiency of the administrative system. This thesis, thus, aims at studying the question of delegation of power in Thailand emphasizing principally its legal aspect. The British and the French system of law in this respect will be analyzed to serve as a bans to examine the Thai case. Problems arising from delegation of power under the Thai system will be exposed and their solution suggested. According to our research, the present Thai system of delegation of power is entremely varied, thus incoherent. Delegation can exist in various forms: such as laws, regulations, orders or cabinet resolutions which are all based on the Order of the Revolutionary Party No. 218 dated September 29th, 1972. Even under the said Order, delegation of power is made in a written from in such a way that the peoples right to know is denied, and in such a way that it does not favour the power of the Parliament to control the administration. The scope of powers of the delegated is not even clearly stated. Strict interpretation of the power delegation statement can be misleading. The Thai administration has not laid down clear criterias on this question. The only criterion is in the form of a memorandum of the Juridical Council which stipulates that the power to be delegated under the Order no 218 of the Revolutionary Party must belong to the delegater. However, in practice, the Finance Ministry officials, for example, have delegated, by force of necessity, power among themselves. Moreover, the problem of delegation of power is related to a lack of unity in the provincial administration. We could say that the concept of delegation of power in the Thai administration is still not clear. Also, various administrative methods can be characterized a delegation of power. These two factors explain the ambiguity of different orders on delegation of power. As we are all aware, an order to delegate power at different administrative echelons has a double character delegation of power and distribution of works. The above-mentioned Order of the Revolutionary Party is also ambiguous: whether it is delegation of power or, merely, distribution of works. The problems of delegation of power can thus be summarized into two main point: 1) Lack of true understanding of the principles of delegation of administrative power due to absence of serious analysis of the question. 2) Private Law dominates the Thai legal system. This is the consequence of the present curricula of law in Thailand. The Thai government official can not differentiate administrative law from other laws. Moreover, the concept of Civil and Commercial Code concerning Law of Agency is applied to the delegation of administrative power. The author is opinion that this problem can be solved by using a two-fold remedy; 1) Educate the majority of Thai official on the true concept of the Administrative Law 2) Amend the laws concerning delegation of power in order to solve all problems arising therefrom