Thailand Reorganizes Civil Service With One-Office-Per-Province Model

Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapathn has revealed the government's plan to streamline the civil service by instructing the Office of the Civil Service Commission to survey and address duplication between central and regional agencies. The commission has proposed using a "one province, one office" model that consolidates overlapping functions. The Commerce Ministry has already succeeded with this approach, consolidating ten representatives from different departments into a single provincial office staffed by just two to three cross-trained officers.

Pakorn emphasized that the civil service will not expand further and will gradually shrink. Regional civil servants must report directly to provincial governors to create unified coordination and eliminate redundancy. If restructuring does not begin now, personnel costs will become unsustainable in the future.

Arunfha Wechachiva, Secretary-General of the Civil Service Commission, noted that task duplication in regional civil service ranks currently stands at approximately 80%. Large provinces like Nakhon Ratchasima have so many department heads that the governor may convene meetings with representatives from over 200 separate agencies, creating inefficiency. Resource allocation will be based on local necessity—for example, inland provinces would not need a fisheries office. Some specialized agencies like Khao Yai National Park, which spans four provinces, will be exempted from the one-office rule but must still avoid redundant positions. The restructuring will use early retirement programs and attrition rather than forced layoffs, with no new staff hired to fill redundant positions within five years. The government will also deploy digital technology and artificial intelligence to calculate staffing needs based on actual transaction volumes.