THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003

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Providing funding directly to communities can be more efficient and cost-effective than working through government agencies. 70 community planning are effective in defining problems and setting out the routes to practical solutions; 4) SIF has created many new assets of social capital which need to be catalogued and managed; 5) some organization should continue the task of promoting community strength and social capital with appropriate funding, and proper procedures for evaluation. 37 SIF personnel tried to pass their experience onto the new government’s million-baht village fund, especially the importance of beginning from a community planning exercise. But the planning would take time which would conflict with one aim of the new scheme – to deliver a rapid fiscal stimulus. Besides, the SIF approach to planning stresses selfreliance, while the million-baht scheme leans towards increasing production and strengthening village linkages with the urban economy. By the time this report is published, the SIF project will have ended. There are several ways in which government and international agencies can help the internal learning process within communities by networking information and experience. The Thailand Research Fund has sponsored a great volume of research on community issues. The practical learnings need to be extracted from TRF’s considerable body of research, compiled in an accessible form, and widely distributed. Among specific local initiatives, one of the most successful and widespread has been community savings schemes or micro-credit. The learnings should be similarly compiled and disseminated in a “how to” form. The same approach may be applied to other schemes. 37 Adapted from 37 Months of Social Fund Operations: Volume I, Development of the Social Investment Fund, April 2002, p. 33. The Social Fund Office (SOFO) which oversees SIF has begun to catalogue the learnings from SIF in a series of accessible booklets. 38 This effort needs to be extended, and the booklets widely distributed. The Community Organizations’ Development Institute has taken steps to maintain the momentum of SIF, by encouraging networking and mutual assistance among community leaders. This deserves support. The experience of SIF has implications for development agencies. Providing funding directly to communities can be more efficient and cost-effective than working through government agencies. The SIF experience offers considerable learning on how such support can be administered and monitored. Development agencies who believe in community empowerment should begin by listening to communities rather than relying on government agencies and other intermediaries. 2. Negotiating cooperation with outside agencies: making decentralization work In fact, far from strengthening local democracy, decentralization can actually reinforce the power and influence of local elites.... Decentralization helps poor people most when local politics are democratic, with strong structures and open participatory practices. Only if accompanied by strong support to community groups can decentralization empower ordinary people. – Human Development Report 2002, p. 67-8 38 SOFO has three series: Knowledge for the Community (Chut khwam ru pue chumchon), Learnings from the Community (Chut botrian jak chumchon), and Social Management (Chut kan jat kan thang sangkhom). Each booklet is around 40 pages with the emphasis on practical examples and illustrations. THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003
The most important arena for empowering communities to work effectively in cooperation with government is in decentralized and democratic local government. Thailand has selected the tambon as the level for democratic decentralization. The selection of such a relatively small unit (average population c. 8,000) has the advantage that communities may become closely involved. But it also has the risk that the Tambon Administrative Organization (TAO) may become ineffective because of weak management resources, ease of capture by sectional local interests, or subordination to the bureaucracy. These risks are well understood and widely discussed. The government has established programmes of training. There are already projects launched to research the performance of TAOs and expose shortcomings. However, as democratic decentralization is a very new departure in the context of the Thai governmental system, conditions are likely to change very rapidly, and the learning process will take some time. This points to the need for continuous monitoring, and a readiness to adjust the system to reflect changing realities. Enhancing the TAOs’ potential to empower communities will depend on some basic principles. Maintain the commitment to make the TAOs work. Early studies on TAO performance have already revealed considerable problems. However, these problems should not become an excuse to diminish the momentum of decentralization, including the transfer of budget and responsibilities. Encourage participation to avoid capture by sectional or bureaucratic interests. Early studies show that many TAOs, like the PAOs before them, have been captured by contractors. Also, local officials sometimes try to guide the TAOs excessively, and to discourage local participation. If these trends persist, communities may see the TAOs as COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AT THE CROSSROADS just another example of old forms of influence, and lose faith in their capacity to respond to local needs. The solution is greater participation. Research shows TAOs work better in areas where people are already organized for communal action. Building communal activity (savings groups etc.), totally separate from the TAOs, is one way to make the TAOs more effective. Guide TAOs into policy areas which will impact on the poor. Communities will be keen to participate if the TAO’s work impacts on them directly in a positive way. Many TAO members are uncertain how to utilize their growing budgets beyond the infrastructure provision which has hitherto been the focus of local government. TAOs must be guided to undertake pro-poor policies. Guide TAOs to be active in management of local resources. Management of natural resources is a vital issue everywhere, and a great opportunity for TAOs to serve community needs and hence increase community participation. Extend community planning and integrate with TAOs. The experiments in community planning technique have been successful in encouraging participation. This is an important method to integrate TAOs with the local communities. To achieve these principles will need a great effort to a) research and monitor the actual performance of TAOs; b) disseminate the practical learnings; and c) foster community activity. To be most effective, these tasks should be undertaken outside the government framework. This is an opportunity for international agencies to work with local civil society organizations. Democratic decentralization is a worldwide trend. There is a great deal of practical learning accumulating about the process, its problems, Research shows TAOs work better in areas where people are already organized for communal action. 71
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THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2
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THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2
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His Excellency Thaksin Shinawatra P
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Mr. J.K. Robert England Resident Co
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UNDP Thailand wish
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x Empowerment is both a means and a
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xii Thailand’s experience with co
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xiv 4: COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AT THE
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xvi CONTENTS Institutional Shifts I
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xviii CONTENTS PART II: MEASURING H
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2 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
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4 Thailand’s Central Plain is nat
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6 Headman Wibun Khemchaloem has bec
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8 to process and preserve agricultu
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10 The bank charges a fee or intere
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12 The Samrong canal links the Song
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14 The idea to clean up the canal c
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16 produced for our own use. We had
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Tree ordination - Karen’s belief
Page 40 and 41: 20 The Mun is the biggest river in
Page 42 and 43: 22 We used various methods to win a
Page 44 and 45: 24 The World Commission on Dams 22
Page 46 and 47: 26 strategy to reduce the exposure
Page 48 and 49: This concern with urban growth and
Page 50 and 51: 30 Communities were now subordinate
Page 52 and 53: 32 The second stream of the NGO mov
Page 54 and 55: 34 “... As we are in the “globa
Page 56 and 57: 36 The Constitution enshrines many
Page 58 and 59: 38 potential to serve as another ch
Page 60 and 61: 40 The share of local government’
Page 62 and 63: The changes over the past decade in
Page 64 and 65: 44 Project proponents still view an
Page 66 and 67: Our fate is in the hands of both th
Page 68 and 69: 48 COMMUNITY SCHEMES FOR EMPOWERMEN
Page 70 and 71: 50 community activities in a northe
Page 72 and 73: 52 5. communities that have a good
Page 74 and 75: “Examine the problem and start wi
Page 76 and 77: 56 Not the Document but the Process
Page 78 and 79: 58 million for loans to municipal g
Page 80 and 81: 60 1. Capacity and Learning Develop
Page 82 and 83: 62 The HIV/AIDS pandemic prompted a
Page 84 and 85: The local communities’ view of th
Page 86 and 87: 66 The rapid deterioration of natur
Page 88 and 89: 68 Our idea of struggle is that far
Page 92 and 93: 72 In the past we were made to thin
Page 94 and 95: The prospects for community empower
Page 96 and 97: 76 dual roles as provider and nurtu
Page 98 and 99: The insight that community empowerm
Page 100 and 101: 80 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPOR
Page 102 and 103: 82 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPOR
Page 104 and 105: 84 The result is a new composite in
Page 106 and 107: 86 Another Endeavor to Measure Huma
Page 108 and 109: 88 For some indicators, i.e. unempl
Page 110 and 111: 90 1. Bangkok 2. Nakhon Pathom 3. N
Page 112 and 113: 92 Special attention should be give
Page 114 and 115: 94 deserve special attention. It sh
Page 116 and 117: 96 4. Income Index Income represent
Page 118 and 119: 98 It is also interesting to observ
Page 120 and 121: 100 6. Family and Community Life In
Page 122 and 123: 102 and Tak on the western border a
Page 124 and 125: 104 Table 8. Five Best and Worst Pe
Page 126 and 127: 106 Vote turnout (%) Table 9. The F
Page 128 and 129: 108 Location Table 10 (continued) H
Page 130 and 131: 110 Health Education Employment Inc
Page 132 and 133: 112 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI) W
Page 134 and 135: 114 Table 12 (continued) HDI rank H
Page 136 and 137: 116 the policy makers and the peopl
Page 138 and 139: 118 THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPO
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120 GENDER-RELATED DEVELOPMENT INDE
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122 TABLE 1 - BASIC DATA Columns 1-
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124 Column 17 Technical Studies and
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DATA TABLES
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Table 1 Basic Data (Continued) Popu
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Table 1 Basic Data Location Udon Th
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Table 2 Health (Continued) Populati
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Table 2 Health (Continued) Udon Tha
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Table 3 Education (Continued) Udon
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Table 3 Education Quality of educat
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Table 4 Employment (Continued) Empl
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Table 4 Employment Employment 2001
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Table 5 Income (Continued) Househol
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Table 5 Income (Continued) Poverty
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Table 6 Housing and living conditio
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Table 7 Familiy and Community life
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Table 8 Transport and Communication
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Table 9 Participation Udon Thani 1,
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THAILAND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003

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