The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is the local government of Bangkok, which includes the capital of the Kingdom of Thailand. The government is composed of two branches: the executive and the legislative. The administration's roles are to formulate and implement policies to manage Bangkok. Its purview includes transport services, urban planning, waste management, housing, roads and highways, security services, and the environment. According to the Thailand Future Foundation, Bangkok employs a workforce of 97,000, including 3,200 municipal officers in Bangkok city, 200 in the city Law Enforcement Department, and 3,000 in district offices.
Governor of Bangkok
The Governor of Bangkok is the head of the local government of Bangkok. The governor is also the chief executive of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The governor is elected to a renewable term of four years, currently it is one of the two directly elected executive offices in the kingdom. The office is comparable to that of a city mayor. The current incumbent is Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang. He was appointed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha using Section 44 of the interim charter to replace Sukhumbhand Paribatra. The reason given for his ouster was "...because he was involved in many legal cases."
Powers and roles
The powers and role of the office of Governor of Bangkok in accordance with the (พระราชบัญญัติระเบียบบริหารราชการกรุงเทพมหานคร พ.ศ. 2528 are as follows:
Oversee the smooth running of the various agencies and services of the city.
The governor is also invested with the same powers as any other governor of a province of Thailand and any other mayor.
The power to draw up legislation and bills for the city, to be considered in the Bangkok Metropolitan Council.
History
Since 1973 the city was administered by a single executive appointed by the cabinet from city civil servants. However soon it was determined that the executive office should a popularly elected office instead. The passage of the , created the Bangkok Metropolis to replace Bangkok Province and created an elected governor with a four-year term. The first election for the office was held on the 10 August 1975. Thamnoon Thien-ngern was elected as the first Governor of Bangkok. Conflicts between the governor and the Bangkok Metropolitan Council, however, became so fierce that Thanin Kraivichien, the Prime Minister of Thailand removed him and reinstated the appointment system. Elections resumed with the passing of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Act, BE 2528 . Elections were held on 14 November 1985.
List of governors
Unless otherwise indicated, they were elected.
Bangkok Metropolitan Council
The Bangkok Metropolitan Council or BMC is the legislative branch of the administration. It is vested with primary legislative powers as well as the power to scrutinize and advise the governor. The council is headed by the Chairman of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council. The current chairman, since 2013, is Captain Kriangsak Lohachala. The number of members depends on the size of Bangkok's population. One member represents one hundred thousand people. Currently there are 60 members, elected from 57 constituencies in Bangkok. Each is elected to a four-year term. The last election was held on 30 April 2006.
Committees
The council is divided into 11 general committees with five to nine members appointed by the councillors themselves:
Committee of Cleanliness and Environment
Committee for Checking the Minutes of Sittings and for Considering Closure of the Minutes of the Secret Sittings
Committee for the Affairs of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council
Committee for Community Development and Social Welfare
Committee for Local Administration and Orderliness
Committee for Economics, Finance, and Follow-up of Budget Utilization
Committee for Tourism and Sports
Committee for Traffic, Transportation, and Drainage
Secretariat of the council
The Secretariat of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council is the executive agency of the council. The secretariat helps the council in all its roles including drafting of legislation, organisation of sessions, minutes and procedures of the council. The secretariat also helps members of the council by providing research and legal counsel. The secretariat is headed by the Secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Council The current secretary is Manit Tej-Apichok. The secretariat itself is divided into nine sections:
Krungthep Thanakom Co., Ltd. is the BMA's holding company for public investment projects such as the concession for the BTS Skytrain and a 20 billion baht underground cable project.
Departments
BMA has 65 departments in total, 50 of which are departments respective to the 50 districts of Bangkok. The rest consist of: Strategy and Planning Department, Finance Department, Bureau of the Budget, Public Works Department, Drainage and Sewerage Department, Department of Social Development, Department of Environment, Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, Health Department, Bangkok Educational Office, Traffic and Transport Department, Department of City Planning, Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the Medical Services Department.
City Law Enforcement Department is the primary unit for overseeing security and orderliness of Bangkok with more than 3,000 quality personnel. Which has 5 important tasks which are to organize the city, Security, Traffic supervision, Tourism Administration and other special missions. Responsible for overseeing, investigating, arresting, prosecuting and enforcing Bangkok Metropolis regulations and other laws within the jurisdiction of Bangkok including operations beyond the authority of the district office or in the case of serious danger to most people.
Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
The Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation operates the city's fire and rescue services. The Bangkok City Council reported in February 2018 that, of Bangkok's 874 fire trucks, only 88 were in "good" condition. Another 340 were rated "only just usable", 232 were "dilapidated", and 225 were parked permanently. Firefighting boats were found to be in roughly the same shape: three of 31 vessels were ranked in "good" condition and 21 were out of service and permanently docked. The BMA's firefighting unit has not been allocated a vehicle maintenance budget for nearly 10 years. The BMA employs 1,800 firefighters.
Medical Services Department
The Medical Services Department operates 11 hospitals and is headquartered at BMA General Hospital in Pom Prap Sattru Phai District. Other hospitals include Taksin Hospital, Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital, Sirindhorn Hospital, Lat Krabang Hospital, Luang Pho Taweesak Hospital, Wetchakarunrasm Hospital, Ratchaphiphat Hospital, Khlong Sam Wa Hospital, Bang Na Hospital and the Bang Khun Thian Geriatric Hospital. The department also operates the Erawan Medical Centre for emergency medical services.
Budget
BMA's annual budget is nearly 80 billion baht.
Criticism
The Bangkok Post has made the point that, although the city suffers from the "worst traffic congestion in the world after Mexico City", 37 disparate agencies are responsible for traffic management, planning, and infrastructure. It maintains that the city government panders to personal automobile use. As evidence, it points to the city's plans to construct four new bridges across the Chao Phraya River, its runaway air pollution, its lack of green space—less than that of any other Asian capital—and its "...obsession with felling trees along Bangkok streets."
