Historical Development of Thai Bureaucracy 1892-1993 : Ministries, Bureaus and Departments.

本项目旨在收集和汇编自1892年4月1日以来泰国官僚制的历史发展，特别是部门以上行政单位的变化，这一天被认为是泰国现代官僚制的官方生日。政府出版的公报是本研究的主要数据来源。泰国官僚制的历史发展虽然已经有了一部完整的资料书，但由于1933年以后行政单位的变动才有法律规定，因此还不完善。(1)虽然1892年4月1日的部委数量为13个，但到1932年6月减少到只有7个。这主要是因为面对严重的经济衰退，政府不得不通过精简政府机构来减轻财政负担。(2)1993年以前，行政机构的数量由于专制君主的相当武断的重组而波动，与此相反，自1933年以来，部和部门的数量不断增加。然而，这一概括有两个值得注意的例外。一是1958年和1963年分别撤销文化部和合作社部。这是1957年政治变革的结果。另一个例外是在20世纪80年代。行政机构的不断增长突然停止了。由于20世纪70年代以来的经济衰退，政府被迫停止增长。政府之所以能采取如此大胆的行动，重要原因在于当时有一位强大的首相，他得到了王权、军方和政党的支持。

This project is aimed at gathering and compiling data on historical development of Thai bureaucracy, especially changes of administrative units above department, since April 1,1892 which is regarded as an official birthday of modern bureaucracy in Thailand. Gazettes published by her government are the main source of data for this study. Although a data book on its historical development has been completed, it is not perfect just because the changes of administrative units came to be done by law only after 1933.A bird's-eye view of historical development of Thai bureaucracy from 1892 to 1992 is as follows. (1) Although the number of ministries on April 1,1892 was 13, it decreased to only 7 in June 1932. This is mainly because the government, faced with serious recession, had to reduce financial burden by retrenching the government organizations.(2) In contrast to the period before 1993 when the number of administrative organizations fluctuated on account of a rather arbitrary reorganization by absolute kings, the number of ministries and department has increased constantly since 1933. Nevertheless, there are two notable exception to this generalization. One is as abolishment of two ministries, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Cooperatives, in 1958 and 1963 respectively. This resulted from a political change in 1957.Another exception was observed in the 1980s. The constant administrative growth came to a halt suddenly. The government was forced to stop the growth because of economic slump since the 1970s. The important reason why the government could take such a courageous action consisted in the strong position of a prime minister at that time who was supported by the kingship, the military and political parties.