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Thailand continuously has had administrative reforms in spite of periods of military regime and democratic government. This chapter describes the leadership of administration reforms coming from issue experts and senior civil service officers described as a ‘jazz-banded’ leadership model of different actors. Political parties pick up reform packages consistent with their policy platforms, while the military looks for ready-to-deliver policy packages. The author discusses the example of education and health care reforms and the role of the Office of Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC). In Thailand, resistance usually occurred during the implantation stage rather than at the formulation stage. The chapter discusses that OPDC initiatives were implemented with bonuses of up to 12-month salary for some senior officers and department heads. In health care, success came from concerted efforts of health care experts who transcend their ideas from one generation to another and who kept convincing politicians running the Ministry of Public Health. However, in other instances, budget allocations may bump up against financial procedures that are detailed and tight due to anti-corruption practices. In education reforms, teachers were placed at different school districts that lacked commitment. In the decentralization of reforms, resistance comes from line ministries wanting to secure their authority, although local authorities are very active. Resistance often requires negotiation of many parties; rarely do politicians step in to overcome and assist.

This chapter has two major objectives. It discusses the political leadership in Thailand in terms of historical development and examines the role adaptation of Thai elites in order to respond to different demands from various sectors in the society. The chapter concludes that political leaders have to adjust their roles to cope and to survive. Apart from the old bureaucratic elites, both military and civil, there are also some other stakeholders who have become stronger over time, making more demands on political leaders (and, consequently, on the state apparatus). In reaction to these stakeholders, political leaders have used public administration reforms and initiated public policies to gain more capacity to lead.

This introductory chapter explains why public sector reforms matter and why a focus on Asia and leadership is needed. It also provides an overview of highlights, lessons and conclusions in this book. Cases of successful public sector reforms usually show leadership by central agencies, with support of the office of President or Prime Minister. While laws and rules are commonly used to further reform, cases show that more is needed to ensure success and sustainability. A range of strategies include heightened accountability, personnel changes, supporting change leaders in departments, reform through capacity development, and learning from innovations other jurisdictions. Conclusions include suggestions for further research.

In this chapter, we describe the formal features of recent reforms in Thailand's public administration. While it remains premature to attempt definitive assessments of the impact of those reforms, we deduce grounds for concern. In particular, we suggest that successful public management reforms must rest on a reasonable degree of congruence between the reforms' implicit assumptions on the one hand and Thai political and social conditions on the other. And we suggest that such a match is not evident in the case of Thailand's most recent administrative reforms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategies of civil service reforms in Hong Kong and Thailand. It seeks to identify the drivers of reforms in the two cases and explain the divergence in processes that were intended to achieve similar ends.

This paper adopts a case study approach along with a thorough review of the literature. It is based on secondary materials, including academic studies, government publications and websites, and media reports. It compares approaches, strategies and outcomes of civil service reforms in Hong Kong and Thailand.

Civil service reforms in Hong Kong focused on improving management through the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) principles, while governance values were prominent in civil service reforms in Thailand.

This paper compares civil service reforms in two dissimilar Asian cases. It highlights the impact of global trends on traditional bureaucratic organizations and reform strategies, and recognizes the impacts of traditions, culture and capacity on civil service reforms.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the transition of the accounting systems from cash based to accrual based, in Thai public universities. The focus is on the factors both influencing and affecting the accounting change.

This study takes a quantitative approach with data collected through a mail survey to the Chief Financial Officer of each of the 78 Thai public universities. Statistical analysis included both descriptive analysis and ANOVA to analyse differences between universities.

The main catalysts for change have come from both external and internal sources. The Thai government requires public agencies to adapt their accounting practices in line with New Public Management (NPM) and university management need improved information for planning and control purposes. The most important change has been to the financial accounting system with the adoption of computerised accrual accounting practices. The major factor influencing the change process is low institutional capacity of some Thai universities which is evidenced by the lack of technological resources and staff with knowledge of private sector accounting practices. Universities that either have or intend to become autonomous have given more importance to accounting system changes; and universities that have achieved more success in the change process note the importance of external consultants, and staff having an understanding and knowledge of data requirements.

This paper adds to the literature on accounting change in the public sector in less developed countries by highlighting factors influencing accounting change and factors that can be barriers to and facilitators of change. The findings provide further evidence of the issues confronted by public agencies in developing countries adopting new accounting practices and highlights the importance of training of local staff before the change process commences. Training is critical for knowledge transfer to enable staff to gain the knowledge and skills needed to assist in the change of accounting practices.

This paper presents a contribution to the government accounting change literature by highlighting public sector agencies in a developing country, Thailand. In both developed and developing countries, public universities are now operating in an environment of decreased government funding coupled with university management taking more responsibility for financial management. This study provides an insight into the changes taking place in Thai public universities in relation to the accounting system to support this new operating environment.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the past and present practices, and the future roles of performance measurement in the Thai public sector. It is part of a transformation effort initiated by the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) on m‐government – more mobile, responsive, and flexible government. The paper also aims to identify possible roadblocks from successfully integrating performance measurement into a management process.

In‐depth interviews with 12 executives and top administrators from private firms and public agencies, and document reviews are performed. The analysis on the participants' opinions is based on the applications of the grounded theory. The interview's findings are verified with document reviews. The roadblocks are identified and substantiated by two experts.

For past and present practices, performance measurement is part of management tool and responsibility, a quality management system, and a learning organization. Its future viewpoints include a driver towards good governance, transparency, and accountability, and a success factor of performance audit and organizational competency/capability. Four important roadblocks in implementing performance measurement in an organization relate to staff empowerment, budgeting, external knowledge, and linkage with software usages.

The findings provide important information into the OPDC's planning process on its m‐government transformation initiative.

The paper attempts to blend knowledge on performance measurement from both the private and public sectors. It highlights the greater roles and expectations on performance measurement in an organization.

This paper aims to examine the role of performance measurement in the Thai public sector. It seeks to explore the interactive use of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) and organizational learning as a means to achieve strategic alignment at the provincial level of government, inter‐organizational networks of public agencies.

Questionnaires were sent to all chief officials of the Office of Governors in Thailand. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

The findings revealed significant relationships between interactive use of SPMS and organizational learning and between interactive use of SPMS and strategic alignment. The results also showed an indirect effect of interactive use of SPMS on strategic alignment through organizational learning.

This paper provides a considerable contribution about the use of performance measurement in inter‐organizational networks which is relatively limited in the public arena.

The purpose of this paper is to study the factors affecting the development of e-government by using a citizen-centric approach.

This paper is a mixed-methods study consisting of qualitative and quantitative research. Data were collected from government agencies using a structured interview and questionnaire about e-government services. The research was collected from the people responsible for the management of an e-government project in 75 government agencies. In addition, the researcher collected data from 1,400 citizens by using an e-Survey questionnaire that grouped participants by age.

By using a citizen-centric approach, the paper identified the factors affecting the development of e-government. There were five factors from the viewpoint of government agencies and citizen groups: quality of e-government services, policy and governance, information technology infrastructure, organization and economy and society.

The research covered the development patterns of e-government for services from government to citizens only.

Seeing the importance of environmental factors for both service providers and service users would facilitate continuous improvement of e-government service provision by government agencies.

The results reflect citizens’ need for e-government services; quality is their priority. Hence, government agencies must consider the quality of the delivery of information and e-government services as they relate to the lifestyles and needs of citizens.

The creation of knowledge from merging e-government concepts with citizen-centric principles is a modern government sector management theory. This research stresses the need for the government sector to see the need for e-government and to recognize the factors for its successful development. This means the design and development of e-government services should respond to the increasing needs of the citizens.