Politics of Three-Year Development Planning Process of Provincial Administrative Organization: A Case Study of Kanchanaburi Provincial Administrative Organization

Abstract

This research studied the politics of the three-year development planning process of Kanchanaburi Provincial Administrative Organization from 2007 to 2009. The research argues that Kanchanaburi Province was a pluralist society which was nevertheless dominated by minority groups of local elites who competed and interacted with one another in the effort to influence and control the local government's decisions and decision-making process. The relationship between the political actors in the province was based on the exchange of benefit – the so-called patron-client politics. Meanwhile, the community participation function in the planning process was viewed as merely a political apparatus to meet the legal requirements or a formality required by law.