Removing officials

On June 25, the military junta announced the suspensions or transfer of 70 government officials for suspected corruption in their order 19/2015. The list contains both officials appointed by the Ministry of Interior and other ministries, as well as elected officials from the local government units, including some relatively well-known PAO chairmen. See for example the Phuket Gazette article on PAO chairman Phaibun Upatising. Out of the 70, the following are those posts which I am usually taking a closer look at.

• 1 vice province governor (รองผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด)
• 7 PAO chairmen (นายกองค์การบริหารส่วนจังหวัด)
• 14 TAO mayor (นายกองค์การบริหารส่วนตำบล), 3 deputy TAO mayor (รองนายกองค์การบริหารส่วนตำบล)
• 17 municipality mayors (นายกเทศมนตรี), 1 member of the municipal council (สมาชิกสภาเทศบาล)
• 1 PAO clerk (ปลัดองค์การบริหารส่วนจังหวัด), 1 TAO clerk (ปลัดองค์การบริหารส่วนตำบล), 2 municipal clerks (ปลัดเทศบาล)

While I haven't yet translated the whole lost of these 47 officials into XML, I already noticed two cases where a TAO mayor was removed who had his 4 year term already finished, and thus in normal times would require a new local election. But since all local elections are suspending according to order 85 (and order 86 for Bangkok) of 2014. I am not sure if these are included because their term ended between the compilation of the list and the announcement, or now all elected local officials stay in office indefinitely - order 1/2015 allowed for the terms being extended, but the way I understood it was that any extension of term must be approved by higher authorities first.

In fact, this is already the second order under paragraph 44 removing officials, one month ago order 15/2015 removed 45 officials, that time most of them were appointed officials.

• 1 province governor, 5 district officers
• 13 TAO mayors, 1 deputy TAO mayor (though one of them was mislisted, and was in fact a municipal mayor)
• 3 municipal mayors
• 1 municipal clerk, 1 deputy municipal clerk

Role of the district officer

In this system, the district officer was the lowest level of generalist, and an important man. The district officer and his deputies became the chief source of higher administrative personnel in the tesapiban system. And it was at the level of the district that the official structure of government came into contact with the populace. From the beginning, the district officer was the local eyes and ears - and perhaps the nose - of the government, as well as the chief executive of a small domain, vested with symbols of authority in an authoritarian society. He was the king's man.
William J. Siffin, The Thai Bureaucracry, page 88.

Though the above quote is on the role of the district officer during the thesaphiban in the years 1892 to 1910, and taken from a 1966 book, it is basically still valid today. The leaders of the two lowest tiers of the central administration - village headmen and subdistrict headmen - are no career bureaucrats but elected local people, and it is the district officer who consults with these headmen on a regular basis. At the beginning of the 20th century (and for many parts of the country until much later) the difficulty of traveling or communicating made such a hierarchical system a necessity, as it was simply impossible for a villager to get into direct contact with the province administration.

But of course, the district officer has much more to do than just being the middlemen between the populace and the province administration. Just recently, the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) has put a PDF with 294 pages on their website titled "กฎหมายที่เกี่ยวของกับ อํานาจหนาที่นายอําเภอ" (The laws which are related with the power of the district officer) - a wide collection from the Criminal Act, Family Registration Act, Weapons Act, Hotel Act, Fishery Act and many more laws covering a wide area of topics. Way too much to read for me, at least it is possible to copy-and-paste it into Google Translate...

District officer of the year 2011

The annual award to the best performing district officers has been announced last week. Officially named นายอำเภอแหวนเพชร ประจำปี ๒๕๕๔ (Diamond District Officer of the year 2554), the winner for each of the regions are

• North: Nakhon Khongnuan (นายนคร คงนวล), Thung Saliam district, Sukhothai
  
• Central: Wisa Phunsirirat (นายวิสาห์ พูลศิริรัตน์), Hankha district, Chainat
  
• Northeast: Somsak Sukprasoet (นายสมศักดิ์ สุขประเสริฐ), Wanon Niwat district, Sakon Nakhon
  
• South: Dondet Phatnarat (นายดลเดช พัฒนรัฐ), Betong district, Yala
  

District officer home in Surat Thani

Even though it is located on the main street through the city of Surat Thani, I only noticed the building in my latest stay there - the official residence of the district officer of Mueang Surat Thani district. I knew that the province governor has an official residence in the city, which from the outside looks quite representative - see the posting on the administrative offices in Surat Thani - but didn't before found a similar place for the lower administrative levels. Well, except for the village headmen, which usually have their normal home as their office as well.

But given the fact that district officers are also shuffled around the country same as province governor, often only staying one year at a given office and ordered to report to new locations on rather short notice, it makes sense that the government provides adequate housing for them. Obviously, the district officer home is far less representative than the province governor villa.

Short story on a assistant destrict officer

Translator Marcel Barang has posted the short story "The Amulet, His Majesty, Father and Uncle" (พระ พระเจ้าอยู่หัว พ่อและลุง) by Thai author Arjin Panjaphan (อาจินต์ ปัญจพรรค์) on his Thai fiction blog, with the complete Thai text, his English translation as well as some translation notes. Though of course interesting on its own, this story and its translation fits into this blog for several reasons, the most obvious one is that the main actor in the story is working as a assistant district officer (ปลัดอำเภอ, Palad Amphoe) in Bang Len district, Nakhon Pathom. The story deals with his personal conflict dealing with his brother-in-law, a well-known criminal. The story is set in the reign of Rama VI, at which time police tasks were also assigned to the district officers.

Also interesting are the details in the translation. In several places the Thai word Amphoe (อำเภอ) is translated as district office, which normally in Thai is Thiwakan Amphoe (ที่ว่าการอำเภอ). For example, ไปอำเภอ literally means "go [to] district" becomes "go to the district office". The reason is that in Thai very often the obvious is left out, and as it is obvious that going to a district could mean any place within several hundreds of square kilometer, the district office as its central place is meant. In fact, the whole Thai text does not contain a single "Thiwakan".

It is also due to the skipping of the obvious that a second district mentioned in the text was mistranslated - in the second paragraph it said "ถึงเดิมบางนางบวช" (reaching Doem Bang Nang Buat). The word Amphoe was left out, and as the translator wasn't aware that there is a district with this name, he translated the word "Doem" (เดิม, old, original) as well.

Now this district, located in the North of Suphanburi province, has an interesting history by itself. Originally the district Nang Buat covered the northern part of Suphanburi, which is now the four districts Sam Chuk, Doem Bang Nang Buat, Nong Ya Sai and Dan Chang. 1911 that district was split, the northern half named Doem Bang and the southern part keeping the name Nang Buat - even though the subdistrict Nang Buat with the district office became part of Doem Bang. The souther part got a new district office in Sam Chuk, but it took till 1939 that the district was named after the subdistrict. In the same year, the northern part was renamed to Doem Bang Nang Buat, having the name of the old central subdistrict in its name again then.

Though the story has no explicit year at which it is set, indirectly on can notice that it is set in the reign of King Rama VI (1910-1926) or shortly thereafter. This however would mean that at that time the district was still named Doem Bang. However, as it is told as a story from memory many years after it happened, the glitch of using the historically wrong district name could be explained as being the name of the district when the story was retold.

Lists of former office holders

When I do my walking tours through Bangkok, I always try to catch a district museum or at least a district office on the way. For the tour through Phaya Thai district, I managed to visit both - the district museum as a small part of the larger Broadcasting Museum in the backyard of the Public Relations Department - I'll write about it in my travel blog later - as well as the district office of Phaya Thai in a soi near Ari Skytrain station.

The district office itself wouldn't be worth a posting here, only thing special at first sight was the billboards with the constituency candidates - I was there in the middle of the election campaign. The district office as government area was of course free of the election posters, but as it also serves as polling station the candidates are announced there in a neutral  way. But more interesting was a board right next to the staircase at the entrance.

The very decorative wooden board lists all the former district officers of Phaya Thai, starting with the district of Phra Nakhon province created in 1966, up until the current district office of the district within Bangkok special administrative area. One can see the administrative changes at district level by the title of the district officer - 1966 till 1973 it was Nai Amphoe (นายอำเภอ), then when the Amphoe were converted into Khet with the merge of Phra Nakhon and Thonburi to Bangkok the title changed to Hua Na Khet (หัวหน้าเขต). In 1985 the title was changed again, now Phu Amnuai Khet (ผู้อำนวยการเขต). This change happened on September 1 1985, and since it was in the middle of his term the 13th district officer is listed with two titles on the list. And finally, the very last entry is also interesting, as the 23rd and current district officer Sawang Bunsit (สว่าง บุญสิทธิ์) is listed as being in office from October 10 2007 till September 30 2011. Thus already in May it was known that the district officer will change this year, probably because he has reached his retirement age.

On a later tour, I have discovered a similar board in the district office of Pak Kret, and funnily also my reader Ian sent me two similar ones he discovered in Satun town. As most of the administrative units either have no website, or only a website with few historical information, these board help me a lot in adding lists of officers into my XML, only copying text from a website is much easier than typing a name from a photo. But any photos of lists like this are welcome, only should be high enough resolution to be able to recognize the Thai characters well, so if you stumble upon one don't hesitate to photograph and send me...

Generic Email addresses for administration officers

A reader asked me on a way to contact the province governors and the mayors in order to get interviews for a thesis. Though I have my doubt there will be much response to his attempt, I could help him by remembering that on amphoe.com I had seen the email address of the district officers in a standardized way. For example the personnel page for Mueang Surat Thani lists the district officer with the address m84010001@dopa.go.th, and for those who know the geocodes for the districts used by the Ministry of Interior and the national standard TIS1099 will quickly recognize the 8401 as the code for the district.

From this, Google quickly let me find the full list of this kind of email addresses for Surat Thani province, which includes some personnel at the district level as well as some at the province level. The table below shows all the positions with their generic email address, one only has to exchange the XX with the code for the entity where that person works.

• Province level
  
  • mXX000001@dopa.go.th Province Governor (ผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด)
    
  • mXX001001@dopa.go.th Secretary of Province Governor (เลขาผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด)
    
  • mXX000010@dopa.go.th Deputy Province Governor (ปลัดจังหวัด)
    
  • mXX000011@dopa.go.th Chief of Provincial Administration Group (จ่าจังหวัด)
    
  • mXX000012@dopa.go.th Chief of Security Affairs Group (ป้องกันจังหวัด)
    
  • mXX000013@dopa.go.th Chief of the Local Government Branch (ผู้ตรวจการส่วนท้องถิ่นจังหวัด)
    
  • mXX000014@dopa.go.th Chief of the Finance and Accounting Branch (เสมียนตราจังหวัด)
    
• District level
  
  • mXXXX0001@dopa.go.th District head officer (นายอำเภอ)
    
  • mXXXX0010@dopa.go.th Head of Registration (หัวหน้าฝ่ายทะเบียนและบัตรอำเภอ)
    
• Municipalities
  
  • mXXXX0001@dopa.go.th Municipal clerk (ปลัดเทศบาล)
    
  • mXXXX0010@dopa.go.th Head of Registration (หัวหน้าฝ่ายทะเบียนและบัตรเทศบาล)
    

Interesting to note are the two municipality entries. These only cover the positions directly under the Department of Provincial Administration, whereas the mayor and most of the other personnel inside the municipal administration are independent. I really should research a bit the administrative structure within a municipal administration, but the fact that every municipality has two officers directly sent by the central government shows about how serious the government is with the decentralization.

District officer transfer

Last week the anticipated district officer reshuffle was done, with the new appointments effective May 2nd. I have found lists with all the new assignments at the website dopaperson.com, a special website from the Department of Provincial Administration for their Human resource management.

The transfers are split into three categories:

• 27 district officer moves [List]
• 95 promotions [List] - these are also transfers from one district office to another, but to one with a higher level in the hierarchy.
  
• 2 acting officers move to new permanent positions [List]
  

The lists are not that exciting, but quite notable is the reaction of a few affected officers.

Department director-general Mongkol Surasajja on Wednesday signed an order transferring district chiefs and division directors, but some district chiefs will likely disobey the edict and are unlikely to report for their new assignments. There was also a question of whether Mr Mongkol had the authority to issue any directives. That is because the Office of the Civil Service Commission's merit system protection committee had earlier ordered the interior permanent secretary to cancel Mr Mongkol's appointment as chief of the department, which oversees local bodies. Source: Bangkok Post, May 6 2011, "District chiefs refuse transfer orders"

While there is no list of those who openly refuse the order, I would suspect these are mostly among those 27 transferred. And they must be betting of an election win for Phuea Thai, as otherwise they will have problems with their further career in the bureaucracy for sure.

District officer reshuffle in the making

Apparently in preparation for the forthcoming national elections, the Ministry of Interior is hastening the next district officer reshuffle. As Bangkok Post reports

The Interior Ministry's move to hasten the selection of 95 district chiefs before the election will help Bhumjaithai Party at the polls, observers say.
District chiefs play a key role in elections and could help swing things the party's way, a ministry source said. The ministry is supervised by Bhumjaithai.
The Election Commission assigns district chiefs as election directors in their districts.
[...]
The list of the district chiefs is now expected to be endorsed by the end of the month.

The last district officer transfer I know about was in January 2010. I don't know why there is no fixed date for this kind of transfer, unlike the province governors which are (normally) reshuffled effective October 1st.

Blackberries for District Chiefs

Being a district head officer (นายอำเภอ, Nai Amphoe) seems to be a rewarding job, as both The Nation and Bangkok Post report that each received a BackBerry mobile phone.

The BlackBerry smartphones issued to 873 district chiefs nationwide were part of a marketing campaign by the distributor and were not funded by the taxpayers as the opposition claimed, Interior Minister and Bhumjaithai Party leader Chavarat Charnvirakul said on Monday.

I wonder what would be worse - the phones bought by the Ministry and given to their employees as a bonus (what for), or the company being so selfless and giving them out for free for distribution? Even I don't know anything about marketing, it does not look like a normal way to boost sales by giving away so many samples to bureaucrats. Media personalities would be the much more obvious choice. So its no wonder both the normally not quite investigative Thai media, as well as Thai political bloggers smell foul play here.

One strange fact from the news is that only 873 district officers got a phone, but there are 878 districts. What happened with remaining five district officers? Why those haven't received a phone - are these five "red" district officers, who were not rewarded for political reasons? Or is it just another example of sloppy reporting by mixing up a number? Or are there currently five district officer positions vacant maybe? Sadly I don't have a current complete list of district officers to proof at least this last explanation?

Outstanding district officer award 2010

In July I reported about the finalists for the outstanding district officer award by the Department of Provincial Administration, now the four winners were officially announced.

• Northern region: Udom Chantamai (นายอุดม จันตาใหม่), district officer of Mueang Pan, Lampang.
  
• Central region: Thiraphon Nutnarot Sirinamuwat (นายธีรพล ศิรินานุวัฒน์), district officer of Khlong Hat, Sa Kaeo.
  
• Northeastern region: Loetbut Kongthong (นายเลิศบุศย์ กองทอง), district officer of Kham Muang, Kalasin.
  
• Southern region: Thawon Khongkaeo (นายถาวร คงแก้ว), district officer of Phrom Khiri, Nakhon Si Thammarat.
  

The prices will be handed over on December 1st, interestingly the same date as last year and in 2008. Don't know if this is a coincidence, or December 1st has a special meaning for the district administration.

Female district head officers

When I found the complete list of all head district officer (นายอำเภอ) as of middle of 2009, this table allowed me to do some interesting statistics because, as usual for Thai name lists, the title is included with the name.

Out of the total of 877 districts - this list dates before the creation of Galyani Vadhana district - most of the district officers have the title นาย (Nai), simply Mister, altogether 853 district officers are civil men. Only 16 have various military titles, and even more striking is the fact that just four of the head district officers are female, two being a Ms. (นางสาว) and two a Mrs. (นาง), though since a recent change in the name title act it does not mean these two are really married. Another four districts were vacant at the time of the list.

The four female district officers are the following

• Mrs. Kitsuda Chanson (นาง กิจสุดา จันทรสนธิ), Mueang Nakhon Nayok district, Nakhon Nayok province
• Mrs. Nipha Suwannasutrat (นาง นิภา สุวรรณสุจริต), Phu Phiang district, Nan province
• Ms. Pani Natanat (นางสาว ปาณี นาคะนาท), Ban Phraek district, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province
• Ms. Wanya Kamtenitngam (นางสาว วรรณา กําเหนิดงาม), Thap Than district, Uthai Thani province

The military titles found in the list are the following, with their English translation found thanks to an older blog posting on New Mandala. I am not sure if there are any female officers among these, but it wouldn't change the overall rate of female district officers that much.

• พันจ่าอากาศเอก (พ.อ.อ.) - Flight Sergeant First Class (1FS), 1 person
• เรือโท (ร.ท.) - Junior Lieutenant (JLT), 2 persons
• เรืออากาศโท (ร.ท.) - Flying Officer (Flg Off), 1 person
• ร้อยตรี (ร.ต.) - Second Lieutenant (2LT), 1 person
• ร้อยโท (ร.ท.) - First Lieutenant (1LT), 1 person
• ว่าที่ร้อยตรี - Acting Second Lieutenant, 8 persons

Now, I leave it to the reader to connect the rate of 0.5% female officers with the official statement of gender equality posted today at the government information outlet.

Outstanding district officer award 2010

Today the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) announced the 12 finalists for the 2010 outstanding district officer award (นายอำเภอที่มีผลงานดีเด่นระดับเขต ประจำปี 2553).

The finalists per area are the following. Note that since I only have the names in Thai, the romanized names follow the RTGS transcription, however it is quite possible the officers in real use a different spelling.

• Area 1 (Chiang Mai, Tak, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Lamphun): Udom Chantamai (นายอุดม จันตาใหม่), district officer of Mueang Pan, Lampang.
  
• Area 2 (Chiang Rai, Nan, Phrae, Sukhothai, Uttaradit): Songri Kaeosut (นายทรงฤทธิ์ แก้วสุทธิ), district officer of Rong Kwang, Phrae.
  
• Area 3 (Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Charat Simun): Phibun Hattagitgoson (นายจรัส ศรีมูล), district officer of Sai Thong Watthana, Kamphaeng Phet.
  
• Area 4 (Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Samut Songkhram, Samut Sakhon, Ang Thong): Rewat Amphawanon (นายเรวัต อัมพวานนท์), district officer of Nakhon Luang, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
  
• Area 5 (Chachoengsao, Nakhon Nayok, Prachinburi, Lopburi, Saraburi, Singburi): Naowarat Thutranon (นายเนาวรัตน์ ธูสรานนท์), district officer of Khai Bang Rachan, Sing Buri.
  
• Area 6 (Chanthaburi, Chonburi, Trat, Rayong, Samut Prakan, Sa Kaeo): Thiraphon Nutnarot Sirinamuwat (นายธีรพล ศิรินานุวัฒน์), district officer of Khlong Hat, Sa Kaeo.
  
• Area 7 (Kanchanaburi, Chainat, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, Suphanburi): Wirasak Wichisaengsi (นายวีระศักดิ์ วิจิตร์แสงศรี), district officer of Doem Bang Nang Buat, Suphanburi.
  
• Area 8 (Nakhon Phanom, Loei, Sakon Nakhon, Nong Khai, Nong Bua Lamphu, Udon Thani): Nikhom Sirisingsangchai (นายนิคม ศิริสิงห์สังชัย), district officer of Kut Chap, Udon Thani. He was already selected in 2009 as well.
  
• Area 9 (Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Maha Sarakham, Suri): Wimun Ratnaponwong (นายวิบูลย์ รัตนาภรณ์วงศ์), district officer of Rattanaburi, Surin.
  
• Area 10 (Kalasin, Mukdahan, Yasothon, Roi Et, Sisaket, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani): Loetbut Kongthong (นายเลิศบุศย์ กองทอง), district officer of Kham Muang, Kalasin.
  
• Area 11 (Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong, Surat Thani, Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket): Thawon Khongkaeo (นายถาวร คงแก้ว), district officer of Phrom Khiri, Nakhon Si Thammarat.
  
• Area 12 (Trang, Phatthalung, Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla, Satun): Chamlong Kraidid (นายจำลอง ไกรดิษฐ์), district officer of Rueso, Narathiwat.
  

Carreer of the new DOPA chief

In April, the Department of Provincial Administration got a new director (see my posting back then), Mongkhon Surasatcha (นายมงคล สุระสัจจะ, also often transcribed Mongkol Surasajja). Some weeks ago DOPA also reorganized their website, and among other changed a new page on to their director was added. Quite interesting is his career through the various administrative posts and levels.

1979-01-08	1994-10-15	Assistant district officer (ปลัดอำเภอ) Si Chiang Mai district, Nong Khai province
1994-10-16	1996-06-16	Head district officer (นายอำเภอ) Si Songkhram district, Nakhon Phanom province
1996-06-17	1996-10-13	Chief of the Security Affairs Group 4 (หัวหน้าฝ่าย 4 กองงานความมั่นคง)
1996-10-14	2000-11-21	Head district officer That Phanom district, Nakhon Phanom province
2000-11-22	2001-12-10	Head district officer Ban Na district, Nakhon Nayok province
2001-12-11	2003-02-08	Head district officer Khlong Luang district, Pathum Thani province
2003-02-09	2004-09-30	Director of Information Technology and Communication division, Ministry of Interior (ผู้อำนวยการศูนย์เทคโนโลยีสารสนเทศและการสื่อ สารกระทรวงมหาดไทย)
2004-10-01	2007-06-03	Deputy province governor (รองผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด) Buriram province
2007-06-04	2008-10-19	Deputy province governor Sisaket province
2008-10-20	2009-09-30	Province governor (ผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด) Buriram province
2009-10-01	2010-04-27	Director-General of the Community Development Department (อธิบดีกรมการพัฒนาชุมชน)
2010-04-28		Director of Department of Provincial Administration (อธิบดีกรมการปกครอง)

I also noticed, that his appointment was also published in the Royal Gazette, although two months after it was announced and took effect - Volume 127, Issue พิเศษ 81 ง, Page 38, published 2010-06-30, titled คำสั่งกระทรวงมหาดไทย ที่ ๒๐๒/๒๕๕๓ เรื่อง แต่งตั้งเจ้าพนักงานออกบัตร (นายมงคล สุระสัจจะ).

Nai Amphoe Noi

Already for the second time, the Department of Provincial Administration is doing a summer camp for older children to learn about government service. It is titled Nai Amphoe Noi (นายอำเภอน้อย), which means something like "junior district head officer". Since the district office is the administrative office every Thai will have to visit - it houses the civil registry, so every time a Thai relocates, marriages, register children, as well as renew the ID card, they have to go to this office. So it's not surprising the head of this office was chosen as the career model to introduce government to youths. Fitting to the young target group, the corresponding website naiamphoenoi.com is of course full with animations.

To join in this summer camp, one has to

• Be in the first three years of secondary education (ม.1-ม.3), i.e. between 12 to 14 years of age.
• Apply as a group of three children from one school.
• Groups has to submit a proposal on how to reduce global warming in their home district.

However, it is already to late to join, as the plan had to be submitted by June 18. By now, the 20 winning teams to join the actual camp have already been chosen. The final round will then be held in July or August. Since this project has made it into a second year already, I won't be surprised that it will become a regular annual one.

Funny detail - when looking at the hires version of the logo on the download page, the armband of the Manga-like child shows quite strange characters π"-Õ and so on. Some small charset problem, apparently their drawing software does not use Unicode. On the poster however it show correct Thai characters.

First district head officer of Galyani Vadhana

After I found the district head officers reassignments of Surat Thani, I tried to look further to find a more complete list. I found a complete list of district head officers as of October 2009, and also two lists of the most recent rounds of reassignments, one in August 2009 and another in February 2010. However strangely both not on the sites of the Ministry of Interior, the August 2090 list was in a gun lover forum, and even more strange the February 2010 list at an insurance company and only available in the Google cache.

As the district Galyani Vadhana was just created in December, only the second list could include a head officer for this district. According to this list, on February 22 2010, Chatthanat Thiankao (ฉัทธนาตย์ เทียนขาว) became the first full head district officer, replacing the acting district officer (รักษาราชการนายอำเภอ) Khunwat Sukhanthakun (คุณวัฒน์ สุคันธะกุล). While I cannot find any full biography of him, I can list the last two positions he held before he became assigned to Galyani Vadhana district. From August 2009 to February 2010 he was in Doi Luang, Chiang Rai province, and before that in Nong Hin, Sisaket province.

District head officer transfers in Surat Thani

On the website of the Surat Thani provincial office of the Department of Provincial Administration I found the transcripts of the monthly meetings of the district officers (รายงานการประชุมนายอำเภอ). At first I only used the one from June 2009 which was available as a WinWord file to add the current names into my province XML. Yet after some more looking around I noticed that these transcript not only show the current names of the district officers listed as participants of the meetings, but also when applicable any new appointments are listed in these documents as well.

The latest such transcript of Meeting 2/2553 held on February 25 2010 (Photos) includes no less than 8 new district officers. Sadly this transcript seems to be only available as a scanned PDF, so I cannot simply copy and paste the relevant contents, but have to type it myself. Each of the reassignments in written in the same style.

นายจิรศักดิ์ ชัยฤทธิ์ ตำแหน่ง นายอำเภอชัยบุรี จังหวัดสุราษฎร์ธานี ได้รับ การแต่งตั้ง (ย้าย) ให้ดำรงตำแหน่งนายอำเภอบ้านนาสาร
Mr. Chinsak Chaiyarit, currently district officer of Chaiburi, Surat Thani, get appointed (moved) to position as district office Ban Na San

So, the other seven reassignments are as follows

• Natthi Udompramuan (นายณัฏฐ์ธีร์ อุดมประมวล) from Na Khu, Kalasin to Vibhavadhi
• Prasoet Chitmung (นายประเสริฐ จิตมุง) from Vibhavadhi, Surat Thani to Don Sak
• Wira Thongphi-chit (นายวิระ ทองพิจิตร) from Kong Ra, Phatthalung to Tha Chang
• Sanit Siwihok (นายสนิท ศรีวิหค) from Tha Chang, Phatthalung to Kanchanadit
• Suraphon Limsila (นายสุรพล ลิ่มศิลา) from Pak Phayun, Phatthalung to Chaiburi
• Suriyan Chirasatsunthon (นายสุริยัณห์ จิรสัตย์สุนทร) from Ban Na San, Surat Thani to Tha Chana
• Charoensak Wongsuwan (นายเจริญศักดิ์ วงศ์สุวรรณ), sergeant (จ่าจังหวัด) at Surat Thani province become district officer of Ban Na Doem

However, only the new officers in Surat Thani are listed, not what happened with the former office holders - where they were transferred or if they retired, nor how long the office might have been vacant. Only from earlier transcripts I knew that both Kanchanadit and Don Sak were vacant since January.

It seems that amphoe.com, which also lists the names of the district officers, is quite up to date, at least for Phanom district it already shows Suwit Chuchuaisuwan (นายสุวิชว์ ชูช่วยสุวรรณ), who became district officer in August 2009. But if this holds for all provinces I cannot check, a full list of all district head officers is something I still haven't found online, there's only the photo page of the current officers in Surat Thani. I also haven't checked if for other provinces similar files are available online, it is quite a lot of work to follow the reassignments for one province by reading the transcripts, so I doubt I'd be able to follow more than one province.

Remembering Saisith

While looking for more information on the book Provincial Administration and Local Government in Thailand, written in 1968 by William A. Sommers, instead of a table of contents or a recension Google instead found me an essay written by Mr. Sommers in the electronic journal American Diplomacy last month. As a municipal administrator Mr. Sommers worked as an adviser in several countries, including 1963 to 1969 in Thailand.

In the essay titled Remembering Saisith he recalls the meetings with Saisith Pornkaew (สายสิทธิ พรแก้ว). In 1966 on a field trip with the Director General of the Department of Locak Administration to Ubon Ratchathani, Mr. Sommers suggested his student Saisith as being the best candidate to become new district officer of Loeng Nok Tha. The incumbent was seriously wounded in an attack by insurgents and a replacement was needed.

For Saisith this was the beginning of a career in provincial administration, he later was province governor in Ubon Ratchathani, Sakon Nakhon, Chainat, Nan and Samut Prakan - at least those are the positions I could find in the governor lists I have. If I interpret this entry in the library catalog of the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, it is the memorial book published on his cremation in 2006.

Outstanding district officer award 2009

The Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) announced last week the four winners of the Outstanding District Officer Awatd 2009, chosen from the twelve finalists made public in July. The awards will be handed over in a ceremony on December 1 - maybe will even show in DOPA TV.

The four winners are

• North: Chokdi Omrawat (นายโชคดี อมรวัฒน์), district officer of Chai Prakan, Chiang Mai.
  
• Central: Yutotna Nutnarot (นายยุทธนา นุชนารถ), district officer of Khok Sung, Sa Kaeo.
  
• Northeast: Watthana Phutichat (นายวัฒนา พุฒิชาติ), district officer of Khemarat, Ubon Ratchathani.
  
• South: Cholosak Wanitcharoen (นายชลอศักดิ์ วาณิชย์เจริญ), district officer of Mueang Surat Thani, Surat Thani.
  

Additionally, Somkiat Sisanet (นายสมเกียรติ ศรีษะเนตร), district officer of Krong Pinang district, Yala province, will be awarded as outstanding district officer of the southern boundary districts.

Outstanding district officer award 2009

On Friday the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) announced the 12 finalists for the 2009 outstanding district officer award (นายอำเภอที่มีผลงานดีเด่นระดับเขต ประจำปี 2552). If it will same as last year, then it will have four winners, one for each region.

The finalists per area are the following. Note that since I only have the names in Thai, the romanized names follow the RTGS transcription, however it is quite possible the officers in real use a different spelling.

• Area 1 (Chiang Mai, Tak, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Lamphun): Chokdi Omrawat (นายโชคดี อมรวัฒน์), district officer of Chai Prakan, Chiang Mai.
  
• Area 2 (Chiang Rai, Nan, Phrae, Sukhothai, Uttaradit): Wirachai Phupiangchai (นายวีระชัย ภู่เพียงใจ), district officer of Sawankhalok, Sukhothai.
  
• Area 3 (Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Uthai Thani): Phibun Hattagitgoson (นายพิบูลย์ หัตถกิจโกศล), district officer of Khao Kho, Phetchabun.
  
• Area 4 (Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Samut Songkhram, Samut Sakhon, Ang Thong): Ratri Bunyong (นายราตรี บุญยง), district officer of Chaiyo, Ang Thong.
  
• Area 5 (Chachoengsao, Nakhon Nayok, Prachinburi, Lopburi, Saraburi, Singburi): Phaitun Waichai (นายไพฑูรย์ ไวยฉาย), district officer of Don Phut, Saraburi.
  
• Area 6 (Chanthaburi, Chonburi, Trat, Rayong, Samut Prakan, Sa Kaeo): Yutotna Nutnarot (นายยุทธนา นุชนารถ), district officer of Khok Sung, Sa Kaeo.
  
• Area 7 (Kanchanaburi, Chainat, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, Suphanburi): Somchai Loetpongpagon (นายสมชาย เลิศพงศ์ภากรณ์), district officer of U Thong, Suphanburi.
  
• Area 8 (Nakhon Phanom, Loei, Sakon Nakhon, Nong Khai, Nong Bua Lamphu, Udon Thani): Nikhom Sirisingsangchai (นายนิคม ศิริสิงห์สังชัย), district officer of Kut Chap, Udon Thani.
  
• Area 9 (Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Maha Sarakham, Suri): Kraison Kongchalat (นายไกรสร กองฉลาด), district officer of Sam Sung, Khon Kaen.
  
• Area 10 (Kalasin, Mukdahan, Yasothon, Roi Et, Sisaket, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani): Watthana Phutichat (นายวัฒนา พุฒิชาติ), district officer of Khemarat, Ubon Ratchathani.
  
• Area 11 (Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong, Surat Thani, Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket): Cholosak Wanitcharoen (นายชลอศักดิ์ วาณิชย์เจริญ), district officer of Mueang Surat Thani, Surat Thani.
  
• Area 12 (Trang, Phatthalung, Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla, Satun): Sanan Phongakson (นายสนั่น พงษ์อักษร), district officer of Nong Chik, Pattani.