Bridging State and Civil Society at the „Grassroots‟: Networks, Collaboration and Local Governance in Two Rural Thai Communities
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i Bridging State and Civil Society at the „Grassroots‟: Networks, Collaboration and Local Governance in Two Rural Thai Communities A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Thunradee Taveekan B.PA. (Public Policy), M.A. (Public Administration) School of Global, Urban and Social Studies College of Design and Social Context RMIT University August 2013 ii Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone, the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award, the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program, and, any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged, and, ethics procedures and guideline have been followed. Thunradee Taveekan August 2013 iii Dedication To my parents and my Thai, Australian and New Zealand families, and my beloved country, Thailand iv Acknowledgements I am very pleased to recall and take this moment to acknowledge the supported people who have played an important role in my PhD epic journey since 2007. First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my multi-disciplinary supervision team for their contribution. I am greatly indebted to my senior supervisor, Associate Professor Paul Battersby, for his understanding and professional supervision with valuable guidance, ongoing patience and strong commitment. I am very grateful to both of my associate supervisors, Professor Robin Goodman and Dr Jeffrey Brian King for their advice, encouragement, inspiration and compassion, specifically, Dr Jeffery Brian King who involved with the team at the last stage of my candidature. His significant contributions have made the accomplishment to this thesis. I also am thankful and all participants in my research project for their warm welcoming, valuable time and insight information into the „reality‟. In addition, I am very thankful to HDR Coordinators, staffs and friends at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University for their support, assistant and friendship along the way of my PhD course. They are Professor Pavla Miller, Associate Professor Suellen Murray, Dr Jonathan Makuwira, Brian Walsh, Serena Lim, and Jenni Morris. My pecial thanks go to all of my PhD fellows who have shared their kind support and academic input especially Dr David Trainham. I am thankful to my health treatment team, Dr Teera, Dr. Kosahi, Dr Robert, Simon and Murray. I also acknowledge the paid work done to edit this thesis by professional editor Dr. Paul Jones which was undertaken in accordance to professional standards and the guidelines of RMIT University. v My sincere thanks go to the great support from Thailand and Thai communities. It was an honor to receive the full scholarship from the Royal Thai Government organized by the Office of the Civil Service Commission. I am thankful to Minister Counsellors (Education); Ms Thanida Techachokvivat and Ms Kaewta Srisung, and the staffs; Khun Bass and Khun Somchit at Office of Educational affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra for their kind cooperation and support. Moreover, I am grateful to receive the financial support and study leave approval from Faculty of Management Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. Special Thanks go to my lecturers, who are now my admired colleagues at Department of Public Administration, and my former teachers at all levels since I was young. I would like to acknowledge the robust support from Assistant Professor. Bussabong Chaijaroenwatana and Associate Professor Akom Chaikaew for their initial drive to make the first step of my PhD journey came true. Additionally, I am thankful for the kind support from the old and new friends both in Thailand and Melbourne, Australia. Finally, I would express a deep sense of gratitude to my parents, Mom Budsaya and Dad Pipop for their magnificent guardianship. Additionally, I am thankful for remarkable support from my dear sister, Pimmanee, and my Australian family, Helen, and my New Zealand family, Jeff and Barb. I am heartfelt appreciate to all their unconditional love, great faith, kind spirit, deep understanding and endless support. Without them all, my PhD achievement would not be possible to be accomplished. vi Abstract This thesis examines the impact of changing governance concepts and approaches on the interaction between public authorities and civil society actors within the environmental policy domain at the local community in Thailand. More specifically, it considers the nature of engagements between state agencies and community that take place within a governance context. Governance is an issue of increasing concern at all levels internationally and across a wide range of disciplines. This concern is associated with the changing social fabric of networks responding to complexity of problems in an increasingly globalised world. The search for solutions for dealing with „wicked problems‟ has led to new frontiers and new ways of working aimed at engaging civil society in governance mechanisms. New meaning and approaches of governance have evolved and have been employed all around the world including Thailand since the beginning of the globalisation era in the last 1990s. However, there is a little known about thateffects of those changes in Thailand as the mode of governance has progressively shifted from hierarchy to market and then network governance. Based on that history of change, this thesis explores the significance of changing governance approaches in the context of local communities in Thailand with the attempt to using governance lenses to observe the „reality‟. This thesis examines the evolving management of local affairs from the broad view at the national level using historical contextual approach to understand the determination of change that have affected local administration globally and nationally. Next, the research furthers the investigation by employing ethnographical case study at the community level. The survey, interview and participation observation techniques have been used to generate the data. The research data findings have been treated with interpretative methods informed by ground theory, which allowed key themes to emerge. Such emerging themes had been discussed and synthesized within the light of previous literature. The research findings reveal the evolution of Thai local administration has gradually shifted from an absolute hierarchical mode of vii governance toward „modern‟ local governance involving network forms of collaboration in environmental policy. This movement represents a move that is characterized by „less government‟ and „more governance‟. Finally, it proposes a „Collaborative Local Governance‟ framework that acknowledges the significance of localised conditions to consider appropriate governance network arrangements in local communities. viii Table of Contents Declaration ii Dedication iii Acknowledgement iv Abstract vi Table of Contents vii List of Tables xiii List of Figures xiv PART I: RESEARCH FOUNDATION 1 Chapter 1: The Research Study Setting 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 The Statement of the Problem 5 1.3 Research Aim and Objectives 8 1.4 Research Question 8 1.5 Rationale and Significance of the Study 9 1.6 Thesis Overview 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review 13 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Governance 13 2.2.1 A Broad Definition of Governance 14 2.2.1.1 Governance Means Governance Structure 14 2.2.1.2 Governance and governing process 15 2.2.1.3 Governance Means State-Society Relationships 16 2.2.2 Exploring Relevant Key Terms of Governance 18 2.2.3 Scope of the Research Study in the Light of Governance 19 ix 2.3 Overview of Network Governance 20 2.3.1 Defining Network Governance20 2.3.2 Brief Development and Nature of Network Governance 23 2.3.3 Reviewing the Relevant Literature 25 2.3.3.1 Common Themes and Topics 25 2.3.3.2 Networks and Governance Studies in Thailand 27 2.4 Conclusion: Emerging Issues in Governance and Network Governance Research – the Research Gap 35 Chapter 3: Research Design 38 3.1 Introduction 38 3.2 Research Philosophy 38 3.2.1 Ontological and Epistemological Foundations 38 3.2.2 Researcher Position within the Research Position 40 3.2.3 From Philosophical Foundation to Research Methodology 42 3.3 Research Methodology, Approaches and Techniques 45 3.3.1 Qualitative Research Strategy 45 3.3.2 Research Approaches and Techniques 47 3.3.3 Research Techniques and Procedures 49 3.3.3.1 Data Collection/Data Generation 49 3.3.3.2 Data Analysis 50 3.4 Research Ethical Considerations 52 PART II: RESEARCH EVIDENCE 53 Chapter 4: From Local Administration to Local Governance 54 4.1 Introduction 54 4.2 King Rama V (1868): From Local Order to Local Administration 56 4.2.1 Reordering the Geographies and Structures of Social Control at National and Provincial Levels 57 4.2.2 Beyond regional change: Establishment of Local Administration 59 x 4.2.3 Ongoing development: Overlaps and Contradictions in Local Administration Systems 60 4.3 In Search of Democracy: The coup d‟etat of 1932 62 4.3.1 Political Change and Nationalism 62 4.3.2 The establishment of Provincial Administrative Organisation 65 4.4 The Suspension Period of Local Government: Military Authoritarian Regime 66 4.4.1 Authoritarian Political Culture 66 4.4.2 The creation of Pattaya City and Central Control 68 4.5 Popular Uprising and Its Aftermath 70 4.5.1 Anti-Communist Policy at the