Recentralising while Decentralising: Centre-Local Relations and “CEO” Governors in Thailand

Abstract

The period since the mid 1990s has coincided with a largely endogenous movement in Thailand to renegotiate centre-local relations ostensibly in favour of increased decentralisation. This article addresses this movement and considers the so-called "CEO" governors introduced by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2003. It argues that Thailand's decentralisation reforms ironically have created new opportunities for national politicians to renegotiate centre-local relations in favour of a more recentralised system.